Hunger for Culture Proves Literal

JERUSALEM — An exhibition of food through the ages is turning out to be a bigger hit than the organizers imagined.

Visitors have been helping themselves to the displays, said Shifra Horn, a spokeswoman for the Museum of the History of Jerusalem.

“They ate our exhibition,” she said Thursday.

The exhibit traces 3,000 years of food in Jerusalem and offers visitors a snack of olives and goat cheese on bread. But many people have been making a meal of it.

Curators have had to replace 200 pounds of candy, 420 pounds of nuts, dates and raisins, and 550 pounds of fruit that were meant to be seen and not eaten.