EATING ELSEWHERE, EATING " LOCALLY": THE ROLE OF REGIONAL GASTRONOMY IN TOURISM

Jacinthe Bessiere (1)

1 CERTOP - Centre d'Etude et de Recherche Travail Organisation Pouvoir

By instituting a recognized national norm, French gastronomy is perceived as a common base, a collective marker which federates a common identity. The notion of "eating well" in France is a national code which qualifies, unites and identifies. When associated with holidays, in particular, the gastronomic experience seems to be the basis of many aspirations and representations. In this way, by analyzing tourism as a search for meaning and identity, it then seems appropriate to consider gastronomy as a component of the tourist quest. By inviting the partaker of food into a new space and identity, gastronomy can be a response to expectations that arise from modern-day dissatisfaction. The analysis which follows aims to position the rural area as a place where the individual finds compensation in food. The analysis will show how the emergence of gastronomy and the taste for local, country food corresponds to new aspirations: the current enthusiasm for gastronomy and what is called "traditional" or "local" cooking seems to go against the trend for industrialized food and homogenized tastes in a mainly urban society. The question will also be raised as to why regional gastronomy has such success. Finally, the last part will examine the privileged frame of reference of gastronomy in culture and identities for the "food-loving tourist" who is in search of reconciliation with food.

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences

Jacinthe Bessiere. EATING ELSEWHERE, EATING " LOCALLY": THE ROLE OF REGIONAL GASTRONOMY IN TOURISM. Revue Tourisme, 2008, 16, pp.155-161. ⟨hal-04002498⟩