Gastronomy as a Tourism Product - Case Study Example

GASTRONOMY Name Institution Professor Course Date Table of Contents 1.0 1.0 Introduction Gastronomy alongside other phenomena such as religious festivals or events constitutes a kind of grey area in the tourism sector. Gastronomy is an indispensable portion of travel experience and there is a symbiotic connection amid the travel destination and the local cuisine. Gastronomy is considered a tourist’s main attraction because it apparently offers a source of enjoyment and prospects that will undoubtedly hold pleasant memories for tourists. Food is one of the most crucial elements for tourists in selecting a destination, and it adds extra value to the selected destination’s image. In the contemporary world, most people are inspired by gastronomy to travel. This report highlights the ways in which gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product. The report will focus on a visit to Queen Victoria Market (Wholesale market excursion) at the corner of Victoria Street and St. Elizabeth Street in Melbourne and Max Branner (Speciality food store) at Queen Victoria building. 2.0 Defining Gastronomy Gastronomy is not easy to define given that there are intricacies in employing the term as well as difficulties in appliance of gastronomic principles to the alimentary experiences and the hospitality industry. However, with clear understanding of what constitute gastronomic experience and the driving forces behind gastronomy, Gillespie and Cousins (2012:2) define gastronomy as practice that is concerned with enjoyment of beverages and food. Gastronomy is the study of food and it is portioned into four major areas that include: Theoretical gastronomy Practical gastronomy Food gastronomy Technical gastronomy 2.1 Practical Gastronomy According to Gillespie and Cousins (2012:3), practical gastronomy is concerned with the study and practice of the production, preparation and service of diverse beverages and foods from nations across the world. In this regard, practical gastronomy addresses the standards and techniques engrossed in the conversion of raw foods into aesthetic, regionally, culturally and nationally specific edible products (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:3). Practical gastronomers include chefs and all guest contact personnel who include sommeliers, carvers, station waiters and food service staff. For instance, the conversion of beverages and foods into complete menus as utilised in different nation is practical gastronomy specialist areas. 2.2 Theoretical Gastronomy Theoretical gastronomy focuses on the process and system approach, cookery books, recipes and other writings (Gillespie and Cousins (2012:4). Theoretical gastronomy supports practical gastronomy, and documents diverse processes that must be undertaken to maximise success (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). Theoretical gastronomy provides theoretical planning for physical procedures that individuals must undertake when preparing and generating events, dishes, drinks and menus. It is the origin of creativity that has motivated and maintained the national and classical dishes of the world for many years (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). Theoretical gastronomy is the area for chefs and other beverage and food professionals who integrate their practical abilities with theoretical input to maximise efficiency and learning in food and beverages preparation. 2.3 Technical Gastronomy Technical gastronomy introduces thoroughness and strengthens practical gastronomy. Technical gastronomy is much more than the simple skills of specifications for machinery and plant besides how these facilities can effect service and production (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). Technical gastronomy focuses at the systematic analysis of everything in the gastronomic sphere that demands evaluation. It is much more than recipes multiplication to accomplish bulk preparation for any event (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). Menu manufacturing, also known as sales mix analysis view advances this perspective (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). Technical gastronomy centres on analysis of foods expediency, novel and evolutionary plant and novel production techniques. The technical aspect of gastronomy evaluates the validity of certain foods. Development and research technicians, food scientists, operational specialists and development chefs functions on technical gastronomy area (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). 2.4 Food Gastronomy Gillespie and Cousins (2012:4) assert that food gastronomy is concerned with the genesis of beverages and foods. The role of beverages in connection to foods is to maximise the gratification. People working with beverages and foodstuffs need advanced product skills and constant learning given that beverages and foods shift over time (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:4). In this regard, time is a crucial factor in food gastronomy. As a result, gastronomy entails the appreciation and study of beverages and foods, and it can include comprehensive understanding of some of the eminent national beverages and dishes of major nations in the world (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:5). Gastronomy offers a blueprint for recognition of how beverage and food resources are applied in a given situation. Through gastronomy, people can develop an image of similarities of perspectives utilised in different cultures and nations in terms of their beverages and foods. Gastronomy is concerned with the knowledge of different aspects crucial to the beverages and foods consumed by a given group, in a given locality or region (Gillespie and Cousins 2012:5). Gastronomy also entails studying aspects encroaching upon food delectation and focuses on the quality of wine and other beverages besides how totality of wine and food complements a given situation (Gillespie and Cousins (2012:5). In addition, gastronomy is concerned with the improvement and assessment of food and beverage quality in the milieu of a given occasion. According to Kivela and Crotts (2006: 354), gastronomy is the art of good eating and cooking. It is the study of the link amid food and culture and involves tasting, preparing, experiencing, researching, experimenting, understanding, writing and discovering food and not absolutely, wines. 3.0 How Gastronomy can be understood as Tourism Product 3. 1 Understanding the Relationship between Gastronomy and Tourism The search for cultural or natural attractions forms the foundation for tourism. Cultural attractions entail the aspects linked to human culture in any of its manifold manifestations including handicrafts, history or gastronomy (Sanchez-Canizares and Lopez-Guzman (2012: 231). Notwithstanding the fact that eating and food as such does not belong to the identical field of recognition as tourism, the close link amid gastronomy and tourism are apparent. In this view, gastronomy and food should be categorised within the field of cultural tourism given that food culture entails facets that surpasses simple nutritional component. The act of consuming food is affected through the symbolic identity attached to foods. According to Sanchez-Canizares and Lopez-Guzman (2012: 231), there is a positive relationship amid tourists interested in wine or cuisine and those interested in music, film, museums and cultural attractions. Catering, gastronomy and tourism hold their own qualities that describe and illustrate the close link amid them. The relationship amid tourism and foods is demonstrated by the practice of tentative consumption of unfamiliar foods as a way to encounter other customs and places. 3.2 Linking Gastronomy and Culture: Lessons from Queen Victoria Market and Max Brannier The term gastronomy includes culinary elements such as foods, dishes and techniques of preparing them. Gastronomy also focuses on beverages. Gastronomy can be viewed as a tourist product given that people visit primary and secondary food producers, restaurants, food festivals and other specific locations for which food tasting and/or experiencing elements of specialist food production region are the major inspiration factor for travel. Food is a part of local culture and a portion of tourism promotion. For instance, in my general market excursion, I visited Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne and experienced the link between gastronomy and tourism. Queen Victoria market is the heart and soul of Melbourne. It is a historic attraction spread over 2 city blocks. The bustling and vibrant inner-city market is where most people from Melbourne shop for everything from vegetables and fruits to imported and local gourmet foods. The market hold more than 600 retailers and it is a factual reflection of the multi-ethnic makeup of Melbourne. Shoppers can get everything from wines, cheeses, seafood, breads, candy, prepared foods, pastry, fresh produce, speciality food items to home-wares and clothing. The market is made up of Meat Hall, Fruit and Vegetable section that offers seasonal produce, Deli Hall which comprises of cheeses, takeaway away food and dressed meats and organics section which specialises in coffee, wine, meat and organic fresh produce. Stalls and shops selling fashion, crafts, and souvenirs are found in Elizabeth, F shed laneway and Victoria Street. The market is opened for 5 days in a week with Sunday being a day for entertainments where performers delight the crowd. The guided tours underline the market’s heritage, culture, history, shopping and food. Queen Victoria market being operations since the 19th century is a portion of Melbourne culture and history (Hui 2004:38). The market is portioned into numerous precincts: Deli Hall, Fruits and Vegetables, Meat Hall, General Merchandise Stalls, Organics, Food Court, and Victoria Street Shops, each offering different products. The food court offers and serves food from almost every cooking in the world thereby offering and satisfying the gastronomic delight of every tourist or shopper. Many people from diverse cultures across the world visit the Food Court at the Victoria Market to experience good food. I also visited the Max Branner located at Victoria building along Lonsdale Street in Melbourne. Max Branner is a place where people from diverse cultures and background indulge in creamy fondue, thick milkshakes and decadent pastries. In Max Branners, chocolate association are articulated everywhere in design, music and on the menu. The place is ever crowded and very busy, particularly at peak hours, but the service is exceptional. At Max Branner, chocolate does not only concern taste, but is a diverse symbol of aspects within people’s lives. The food store is filled with shelves upon shelves of Max Branner’s chocolate creations, large chocolate bricks, caramelised nuts, colourful bonbons, crispy wafers and chocolate thins. Other chocolate products offered at Max Branner include thick hot chocolate mug that is designed for hot chocolate drinking ceremony; Belgian waffles topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit and Milkshake Alice cup that promotes the fantasy factor of the chocolate drinking ceremony. Max Branner also offers chocolate pizza topped with toasted marshamallows and covered in melted chocolate; chocolate fondue tower; melting chocolate soufflé that is best enjoyed with creamy vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries; Suckao that is made of suck and cocoa beans; decadent crepe filled with rich hazelnut praline and fresh bananas and max I-scream which comprises of vanilla ice cream bars that are dipped in pots of melting chocolates. Max Branner is more of a tourist attraction site with exceptional service to all its customers regardless of their ethnic background, race or nationality. The presentation of the chocolate product is excellent and the products are suitable for families, couples, children and young people. From the visit at Queen Victoria Market and Max Branner, I learnt these sites are a portion of Melbourne’s cultural and social fabric. The sites are colourful and rich tapestry embroidered through each novel wave of immigrants and tourists from diverse cultures who come to experience the taste of good food, chocolates and other items. These sites are a tourist attraction and they that meet the gastronomic needs of every visitor. 3.3 Linking Gastronomy and Tourism According to Scarpato (2002: 65), civilisation is a culinary act and cooks do not only make people’s meals but also make them in the sense that they shape people’s social networks, arts, religions and technologies. Hospitality and tourism intersects with gastronomy to a degree that they are concerned with meals. Modern Australian cooking has swept the world and this is evident from the foods and services offered at the Queen Victorian Market and Max Branner. The culinary nationalists have entered the global food industry and globalisation of culinary is suitable in the tourist industry given that processes can be rationalised while staff can be transferred Scarpato (2002: 65). The Australian cuisine belongs to a novel global cooking which instigates augmented likeness. The likeness is embraced by tourists attracted through commercialism safety. Cultural aspects has ousted and paralled the conventional boundary aggregation of persons. Tourism marketers handle international cuisine and tourists are attracted to certain destinations because of the food and beverages offered. According to (Scarpato (2002: 65), gastronomy is a culture and a means of cultural tourism. This is because a meal implies customs, food choices, traditions, manners and scores of psychological effects and motivations. A meal demonstrates a homogenous and complex feature crucial in defining a common system of habit and tastes. Cooking efforts are guided to the meal and prepared food demonstrates a communication system, body of image, behaviour, situations and usage protocols (Scarpato (2002: 66). The meal is, therefore, a cultural aspect where cultural is a medium for tourist attraction. If a meal is a cultural object, the industry that makes it is a cultural industry which not only includes cooks, but also gastronomy professionals. 4.0 Gastronomy as Tourism Product Gastronomy fulfils the conventional needs of cultural tourism commodities. It adds value to the experience of tourists, and in most instances it is linked to quality tourism. Gastronomy also fists in to the modern blueprint of consumption tourism. According to Kivela and Crotts (2006: 358), for tourists, beverages and foods consumption satisfy their thirst and hunger as well as act as a means of obtaining in-depth knowledge regarding the regional or local cuisines, beverages, wine and destination culture (Kivela and Crotts 2006:358).The Max Branner at Queen Victoria building offers chocolate products that attract recreational gastronomy tourists. Gastronomy is a tourist product given that it is a driving force behind revival of tourism in destinations that are struggling or are in growth crisis (Kivela and Crotts 2014:359). For instance, Croatia experienced a formidable task in its tourism industry rebuilding efforts between 1990 and 1995. Up to this date, a major part of the rebuilding strategy powerfully features wine making, food customs, regional cuisines and local foods. Hussain, Lema and Agrusa (2012: 72) assert that combination of local beverages and cuisine along with culture, festivals and traditions is a dynamic package for guests. For a tourist to visit a region, gastronomic or culinary motivations acts a stimulus for a greater interest within the destination. The hospitality sectors’ services which include accommodations and beverages and foods play a crucial role in the tourism economy thereby making gastronomy a tourist product. 5.0 Conclusion Tourism is crucial to modern-day foodways in Australia. The typical local or international cooking is a crucial tourist product that revalorise a given location culture. Cooking is an attraction available all the time, and has an impact on a tourist’s experience in a given destination. The better way to understand gastronomy as a tourist product is to provide a link to the culture of the tourist. Linking gastronomy and tourism demonstrates a good way of viewing gastronomy as a tourist product. People in the tourism industry and gastronomy professionals should work together to ensure that the link between gastronomy and tourism flourishes given that good foods and beverages act as a tourist attraction. The fact that Queen Victorian Market and Max Branner have become premier food tourism destinations, this implies that the destination cuisine are justified sources of enjoyment that formulate experiences and emotions for both local and international tourists. In this regard, there is a close link amid tourist destination and gastronomy because a tourist destination offers chefs, recipes and a cultural milieu that makes gastronomy a perfect product for tourist consumption. 6.0 Reference List Gillespie, Cailein and Cousins, J (2012) European gastronomy into the 21st century. UK: Routledge. Hui, Sui-Liung (2004) Queen Victoria Market: History, Recipes, Stories. UK: Wakefield Press Hussain, Z, Lema, J & Agrusa, J (2012) Enhancing the cultural tourism experience through gastronomy in the Maldives. Journal of Tourism Challenges and Trends. 5 (2): 71-84. Kivela, J and Crotts, J.C (2006) Tourism and Gastronomy: Gastronomy’s influence on how tourists experience a destination. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism. 30(3): 345-377. Sanchez-Canizares, S & Lopez-Guzman, T (2012) Gastronomy as a tourism resource: Profile of the culinary tourist. Current Issues in Tourism. 15 (3): 229-245. Scarpato, Rosario (2002) Gastronomy as a tourist product: The perspective of gastronomy studies. Hospitality & Tourism Complete. 51-70. Read More