Flavors of ancient times on exhibit in Chicago

CHICAGO -- An exhibition at the Museum of Science and History features details of what the ancient Greeks ate and drank, from evidence left inside cooking pots and storage jars often admired for the beauty of their outer decoration.

Modern science, chemical testing and DNA analysis, provided the keys for researchers.

"Archaeology Meets Science -- Minoans and Mycenaeans: Flavors of Their Times," on show through Nov. 25, includes pottery excavated from ancient Minoan and Mycenaean sites; the results of scientific testing of it, and recipes developed from those tests. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to take away copies of recipes.

Findings include that Minoans and Mycenaeans made beer, honey mead and retsina wines, and even combined them in early kinds of cocktails. Among other culinary habits, they used a special kind of pot to cook lentil stew at temple sites.

The exhibition is the result of collaboration among the Museum of Science and Culture, the Greek Ministries of Culture and the World Council of Hellenes.

Holiday cooks can find help on phone hot lines

Toll-free telephone services and Web sites offer a variety of specialist answers to cooking and food-safety questions during holiday preparation times. Here are some of them:

U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline: (800) 535-4555. Food safety specialists answer calls about meat and poultry preparation and cooking questions, year-round Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST, except Nov. 22, Thanksgiving Day, when hours will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Recorded information is available 24 hours a day at the same number. Also available in Spanish.

Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: (800) 288-8372. Home economists and nutritionists answer holiday cooks' questions, in both English and Spanish, for callers in the United States and Canada. All callers receive a free calendar, with recipes. Hours are Nov. 17-18, weekend before Thanksgiving, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST; Nov. 22 Thanksgiving Day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. Nov. 23 to Dec. 21, weekdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST.

Automated assistance is provided after hours. Hearing- and speech-impaired assistance (800) TDD-3848.