From stigma to haute cuisine: Strategies, agents, and discourses in the revalorisation of Carob as a gourmet product

Abstract

Gourmetisation processes have contributed to the revalorisation of certain foods and cuisines traditionally associated with the lower classes – sometimes stigmatised because of their connection with periods of hardship and considered unfit for human consumption. This article reviews the gourmetisation dynamics created around carob – a product intimately related to the creation and underpinning of the gastronomic identity and the cultural memory of the inhabitants of the Balearic Islands (Spain). The web of interconnected meanings constructed around this product is examined through an ethnographic analysis of consumers, traders, political actors, and high-level chefs, pastry chefs, and master bakers. The article reviews the strategies and agents involved in the rediscovery and revalorisation of carob as a gourmet product. It also describes the impact of these strategies in the development of different marketing initiatives for its commercial exploitation. Finally, this research examines how the gourmetisation of carob reveals a confluence with current gastronomic trends focused on locally produced, sustainable, and healthier products and the valorisation of tradition as a synonym of “authenticity”.