Local Chefs Research Articles

The Role of Culinary Tourism in Local Marketplace Business—New Outlook in the Selected Developing Area

Local producers constitute a crucial segment of the local economy, playing a pivotal role in driving rural development and the progress of tourism. Their avenues for showcasing products extend beyond markets, bazaars, or food events, often being integrated into a destination’s tourism offerings. Moreover, they contribute to the culinary progress within tourism. Originating from wider rural areas or nearby villages, local producers significantly impact everyday migrations, services, and financial transactions in relationships spanning suburban–urban, village–town, and cross-border cooperation. This study aims to scrutinize the social facets of the organization and work of local producers, offering insights into contemporary market processes. It also serves to illustrate cross-border cooperation and the role of culinary tourism in local business. Through qualitative data processing, we will delve into the outcomes of cross-border projects, emphasizing ethical and sustainable values rooted in territory, landscape, local culture, authenticity, and the application of culinary elements in tourism. The results will shed light on the economic, social, and cultural ramifications on markets in border regions, influencing daily life and the economy. This study will define key aspects of rural development. These research findings can inform local governments, the economy, and communities in future strategic planning for developing this market segment. Tourism, especially in hospitality, will empower rural communities to enhance financial inflow and create local employment opportunities, such as roles for vineyard tour guides or local chefs. Simultaneously, it will bolster other sectors of the local economy, such as agriculture.

The Role of Gastronomy in Shaping Tourist Experiences: A Study of Iloilo Province, Philippines

This study investigates the influence of gastronomy on tourism in Iloilo Province, Philippines, addressing the gap in literature on the interplay between local culinary practices and tourism dynamics in this region. Utilizing a qualitative methodology, insights were gathered from a diverse group of stakeholders, including local chefs, restaurant owners, tourists, and farmers. The findings reveal that gastronomy plays a pivotal role in shaping Iloilo’s cultural identity, serving as a medium for preserving and showcasing its rich heritage. Key local dishes such as talaba (oysters) and binakol (chicken soup), inasal, pancit molo, and most especially batchoy enhance the tourist experience, influencing their destination choices and likelihood of revisiting. The study underscores gastronomy’s dual role as a cultural expression and an economic driver, contributing to local development, community engagement, and sustainability. The emphasis on local produce and sustainable practices highlights the region’s commitment to environmental conservation and community empowerment. Integrating gastronomy more deeply into tourism strategies can significantly boost Iloilo Province’s appeal and competitiveness as a tourist destination, setting a model for other regions.

To feed a town —the operation of the Maribor food market, 1910–2020

ABSTRACT The Maribor food market which has been operating in the city center since the 13th century, is one of the city’s most important food providers. On market days, local people, farmers, urban and suburban gardeners, as well as food importers bringing in food from far away, have gathered at the market over many centuries. Here, the residents of the city discovered new, previously unknown foods. The paper will deal wtih the operation of the Maribor food market from 1910 to 2020, a period of time during which major changes in the supply of food to the urban Maribor population occurred. This approach enables us to gain a better understanding of the everyday menu of Maribor’s inhabitants at that time, as well as the changes that were occurring in food shopping tendencies and selling practices. The recent failed architectural renovation of the food market in Maribor has not only affected the contemporary vendors, but also the buyers, the visitors to the city, and the local chefs.

“Localness” in donburi rice bowls in a remote rural areas: The case of Noto Peninsula, Japan

This paper takes the example of “notobowl (Notodon)”, which was created as a new “local dish” in the Oku-Noto region, a peripheral area at the tip of the Noto Peninsula, Japan, to showcase how local chefs selected local ingredients to serve on bowls of rice to promote the local characteristics of the Noto (or Oku-Noto) region. This research focuses on small-scale family businesses, in the context of globalization and the global market economy. Each restaurant used products that it had already been selling locally by recommodifying them with a Notodon theme, so that they could be sold in a larger market area. I conducted semi-structured interviews with restaurant managers and other people who were part of the production process. The interviews focused on how each restaurant came up with its original dish, which considered the restaurant’s location, its existing operation, and the influence of outside actors. The interview questions also inquired about the effects of commodifying localness on small family businesses in peripheral areas. The interviews indicated that local small-scale businesses led the promotion of Notodon. The restaurants followed their own procedures when they served their local dishes, they encouraged tourists to consume their Notodon.

What’s for dinner? Assessing the value of an edible invasive species and outreach actions to promote its consumption

The consumption of edible aquatic invasive species has gained popularity as a means to minimize their impacts while easing pressure on native resources and ecosystems. Weakfish Cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) is one of the most recent invasive fish species in the Iberian Peninsula (Europe) which once sustained an important fishery in the native range (Northwest Atlantic Ocean). Portugal ranks third in the list of the world’s fish consumers, so promoting a weakfish fishery could at least minimize the impacts upon native species, since weakfish have innate traits that are appreciated by Portuguese fish consumers. However, introducing a new species to consumers is challenging owing to consumers’ habits and unfamiliarity with the species. So, we aimed to (i) evaluate the acceptance of weakfish by a panel of Portuguese fish consumers and (ii) create outreach actions—partnerships with local Chefs and press releases—to explain to a broader audience what invasive species are and promote the consumption of edible aquatic invasive species. We conducted a consumers survey that showed that weakfish has great chances of being well accepted by Portuguese fish consumers– 90% would buy weakfish because they appreciated its appearance, flavor, and texture, besides being a wild fish. The outreach actions reached a few million people because 46 online articles were published, and three news pieces were broadcasted on national television. Our strategy increased the public’s awareness about weakfish as an invasive species, which could be adapted for other non-indigenous marine species elsewhere in the world.

Blending tradition and modernity: gastronomic experiences in High Peruvian cuisine

ABSTRACT This study examines the design and delivery of gastronomic experiences at restaurants of High Peruvian cuisine. Besides the presentation of creative dishes, food is also used to communicate a discourse of authenticity and innovation. Changes in local cuisine were originally initiated by a group of chefs who received education or work experience abroad and later decided to return to Peru to open their own businesses. The aim was to identify particular criteria employed in the development and delivery of gastronomic experiences at these restaurants. This qualitative study used narrative inquiry to capture the participants’ stories and the particularities of the socio-cultural context where they took place. A total of 15 in-depth face-to-face interviews took place with renowned chefs. Findings indicated that chefs, identified as cultural brokers, selectively chose to retain elements of the local culinary system as the foundation of their creations, however, menus also reflected the chef’s creativity and innovative style. The provision of superior service was also a key component of the gastronomic experience. This included utilisation of quality ingredients, attention to ambience and consistent service provision. Gastronomic experiences created and delivered by local chefs could then play a major influence in the development of the food sector.

Bluefin tuna and Cádiz: A pinch of history and gastronomy

Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) has been fished and traded since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean basin. As recorded by prominent Greek, Roman and Arab authors, it has played an important role in the culture and economy of Cádiz since Phoenician times, 3000 years ago. The ‘modern’ catching method, the almadraba, dates back to the late 14th century, consisting of a long and labyrinthine net. It is the oldest known industrial fishing technique and a prime example of a sustainable human activity developed to follow the annual migration cycles of bluefin tuna. Once the prime specimens are caught they are quickly slaughtered, landed, cut and filleted (the technique is known as ronqueo, imitating the noise the knife makes when cutting the flesh) by skilled maestros (masters). Up to 24 different cuts can be obtained from a single 150–200 kg specimen. They possess special organoleptic characteristics, mostly because of their fat content that makes them suitable for a wide range of specific preparation methods: raw, grilled, cooked in sauce, cured, salted, canned, etc. Bluefin tuna recipes are well documented throughout history in Spanish cookbooks. Some of these recipes are still followed in people's homes, as well as in many restaurants along the Cádiz coast. Traditional dishes offered in menus are, for example, tuna with onion, tuna with tomato or tuna in marinade. In addition, some tuna cuts, especially those that were traditionally discarded by restaurants and consumed by local fishermen (e.g. the heart, guts, back cheek, eye muscle or soft roe) have been rediscovered by local chefs and are being offered in the menus of the most avant-garde Spanish restaurants as luxury dishes. During the last few years, some fishing towns on the Cádiz coast such as Barbate, Conil, Zahara or Tarifa, have been offering very interesting tourist activities connected with the bluefin tuna fisheries: from boat tours to watch the catching of the tuna (almadraba), to gastronomic routes to discover the best tuna tapas, or museums and interpretive centres to learn more about this ancient and important activity.

Cassava Flour in the Hospitality Industry of Salvador, Brazil: Uses, Tradition and Innovation

ABSTRACT Historically labeled “food of the poor” in Brazil, cassava flour has been increasingly praised as a product of gastronomic prestige. Thus, this study aimed to understand the significance of cassava flour in the city of Salvador’s gastronomy and hospitality industry, analyzing the role played by local chefs in the (re)signification of this food. An exploratory study with 20 chefs was carried out, using questionnaires with focus on practices of acquisition, storage, uses and chef’s perception. Large use of cassava flour was observed, mainly in traditional recipes, such as farofas and pirões. Moreover, there was concern regarding the preservation of its main qualities, mostly found in Copioba, a renowned flour. However, there still are restrictions on the use of this flour, since it is mainly produced by family farmers. Cassava flour, especially Copioba, is a key element in the regional culinary tourism, although its productive chain needs to be boosted.

USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Helps Bring Regional and Local Foods to Consumers

USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Helps Bring Regional and Local Foods to Consumers

Let’s Move! Celebrates 5 Years

Let’s Move! Celebrates 5 Years

Tolstoy in a recipe

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the impact of global celebrity chefs and their discourse about food on the genre of cookbooks in Slovenia.Design/methodology/approach– Focusing this discourse study on cookbook topics only, the analysis demonstrates the relationship between the aspirations of local celebrity chefs for the food culture represented globally by global celebrity chefs, such as Oliver, and the necessity for a local construction of specific tastes. While the central genre of TV celebrity chefs remains TV cooking shows, their businesses include a number of side products, such as cookbooks, which can be seen as recontexualisations of TV food discourse.Findings– Hence, despite this study being limited to analysis of cookbooks only, it can be claimed that the findings extend to other genres. The analysis shows that local chefs aspire to follow current trends, such as an emphasis on the local and sustainable production of food as well as enjoyment and pleasure in the form of a postmodern hybrid genre, while, on the other hand, they strive to include topics that will resonate locally, as they aim to represent themselves as the “new middle class”.Originality/value– Such an analysis brings new insights into the relationship between discourse and globalisation as well as discourse and food.

Cook It Up! A community-based cooking program for at-risk youth: overview of a food literacy intervention.

BackgroundIn Canada, there are limited occasions for youth, and especially at-risk youth, to participate in cooking programs. The paucity of these programs creates an opportunity for youth-focused cooking programs to be developed, implemented, and evaluated with the goal of providing invaluable life skills and food literacy to this potentially vulnerable group. Thus, an 18-month community-based cooking program for at-risk youth was planned and implemented to improve the development and progression of cooking skills and food literacy.FindingsThis paper provides an overview of the rationale for and implementation of a cooking skills intervention for at-risk youth. The manuscript provides information about the process of planning and implementing the intervention as well as the evaluation plan. Results of the intervention will be presented elsewhere. Objectives of the intervention included the provision of applied food literacy and cooking skills education taught by local chefs and a Registered Dietitian, and augmented with fieldtrips to community farms to foster an appreciation and understanding of food, from 'gate to plate'. Eight at-risk youth (five girls and three boys, mean age = 14.6) completed the intervention as of November 2010. Pre-test cooking skills assessments were completed for all participants and post-test cooking skills assessments were completed for five of eight participants. Post intervention, five of eight participants completed in-depth interviews about their experience.DiscussionThe Cook It Up! program can provide an effective template for other agencies and researchers to utilize for enhancing existing programs or to create new applied cooking programs for relevant vulnerable populations. There is also a continued need for applied research in this area to reverse the erosion of cooking skills in Canadian society.

Why Foodies Thrive in the Country: Mapping the Influence and Significance of the Rural and Regional Chef

Why Foodies Thrive in the Country: Mapping the Influence and Significance of the Rural and Regional Chef

Eating the country

A study is presented that examines white Australian attempts to ingest Indigenous food and practices to explore postcolonial anxieties of place, belonging, and identities that are expressed through a specific way of eating. With talented local chefs in Australia the particular combination of landscape, both material and visual, not only showcases regional flavours, but gestures towards the search for an elusive authentic Australian cuisine.

680 Innovative Methods to Market Locally Grown Products

The development of industrialized production and global sourcing has changed the marketing structure of the horticulture industry dramatically. The inherent disadvantaged resource base (soils and climate) and high production costs in the northeast United States make it difficult for growers to compete in commodity markets. Exploiting niche and value-added markets are important for the survival of northeast agriculture. Moreover, an emphasis on quality of life has created a movement towards sustainable agriculture. As a result of this movement, many programs have been initiated to promote locally grown products and to support agricultural-based economic development. The common objectives of the “locally grown” programs are to promote agricultural products produced within the region, support the local economy, and develop agricultural markets. Keys to success of a “locally grown” program are a vision, seed funding, a champion, and community, political leadership and technical support. Many innovative regional food and agriculture development programs have been initiated in New York State to support local farmers, revitalize the rural economy, promote local identity and pride, develop agri-tourism, and capture the urban markets. Some examples include the “Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty” initiated by local chefs, “Uncork New York” sponsored by the wine industry, and “Hudson Valley Harvest” and a pilot ethnic market project targeting New York City markets.