Innovation in Nature Based
Tourism Services
TRADITION AND INNOVATION – CULINARRY
TOURISM
Ass. prof. Ph.D. Angela ALBU,
“Stefan cel Mare” University, Suceava, ROMANIA
Culinary tourism as a form of tourism
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“Culinary tourism" suggests the idea of
experiencing other cultures through food.
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Culinary Tourism is about how to best develop
and market a new kind of visitor attraction unique and memorable food and drink
experiences.
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Food and beverage are an equally - if not more powerful tourism attractions like museums,
sports and shopping.
Every traveler eats and drinks, so the owner
of a hotel, restaurant, rural pension has to use
the fact in the best way it is possible for the
tourist and for himself.

According to the Travel Industry Association of
America and the Canadian Tourism
Commission, tourists who are interested in
wine/cuisine also show an affinity for museums,
theater, shopping, music, film festivals and
outdoor recreation.
Nature – based tourism depends of the local
cuisine more than the classical tourism
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Classical tourism
Commune (general)
cuisine
International cuisine
Nature - based tourism
 Local cuisine
 Traditional cuisine
 Ecological food products
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For a manager which works in hospitality
industry, culinary tourism is important because
gets information and can improve:
food and the culinary arts,
 agriculture and economic development,
 economic impacts of creating culinary tourism
destinations,
 wine and wineries,
 arts and culture,
 history and anthropology,
 locally produced food and drink.
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Unlike other travel activities and attractions,
cuisine is available year-round, any time of day
and in any weather.
If executed correctly, culinary tourism can put a
restaurant / hotel / rural pension “on the map”
of the region.
Culinary tourism is a major contributor to the
tourism strategy of any destination.
Some general aspects of the Romanian tourism
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Few countries can offer the variety of
attractions for tourists as Romania.
From beach holidays at the Black Sea Coast, to
viewing rare birds at the Danube Delta, to snow
skiing or soaking in curative mineral waters in
mountainous Transylvania and Bucovina,
Romania's physical features offer a multitude of
attractions for tourists.

Romania still has every chances to become an
important destination for the tourists from all
over the world:
preserved medieval villages,
 unique rural culture,
 unique monasteries
 untouched nature
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A part of the cultural heritage of a nation is the
variety of traditional food, kept unchanged for
generation to generation.
Romania has some traditional ways to prepare
food, characteristic for each region of the
country and the tourists who tried once a
traditional dish will come again to taste it.
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Every historical regions of Romania have its
own specific in culture and customs, reflected in
the folk music, the architecture of the houses,
the traditional costumes and, of course, in local
cuisine.
Traveling across Romania the tourist can meet a
mix from old and new elements which represent
the charm of the country.
Culinary tourism in Romania
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Romanian cuisine is diverse, blending the dishes of
several traditions which it came into contact with, as
well as maintaining its own character.
Romania's cuisine was somewhat influenced by the
other peoples that lived on its territory such as the
ethnic Hungarians and Germans that are still living
in the middle and western parts of Romania.
Also, some Greek, Slavic, Turkish and French
influences are felt. But the oldest influence comes
from the Dacian-Roman era.
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The truth is that Romanians like to eat, they eat
a lot and well. They do not think of cholesterol
or low fat diets while they are taking lunch or
dinner.
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An existential Romanian question is:
We eat to live, or live to eat?
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A great number of proverbs and sayings have
developed around the activity of eating:
The innocent child's thank you:
Thank you for the meal
it was good and tasty
and the cook was fat
 Some
simple saying:
Love passes through the stomach
Appetite comes while eating
Hunger is the best cook
 The
sarcastic proverb:
Ate well, drank well, in the morning woke up dead
 Half
true, half joke:
The best fish is always the pork
The region of Moldavia with its
northern part – Bucovina
Moldavian cuisine is said to be the
most refined of all.
 The cakes made in this part of the
country are so many and diverse one
loses count.
 Weddings, baptisms, winter and spring holidays
and even funerals are as many occasions for
each Moldavian woman to show off her culinary
art.
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During the last 10 – 12 years Moldavia becomes
the region with the biggest number of rural
pensions and motels where cultural and
historical tourism is mixing in a perfect way with
culinary tourism.
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Polenta is always
accompaning Moldavian
sarmale (meat rolls in
cabbage leaves), a famous
dish served in Romanian
restaurants around the world.
These meatballs rolled in
cabbage or vine leaves are
made from minced pork,
beef or both types of meat,
mixed with rice, salt, pepper,
chopped dill and parsley as
well as chopped onion; small
portions of this mixture are
then rolled in sauerkraut or
vine leaves and boiled.
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Moldavian wines have
been known for five
centuries. There are
vineyards that can be
visited because here the
tourist can taste wines
awarded with prizes at
international wine
competitions.
Every year during autumn
the restaurants organize
days for tasting must - the
fermented grape juice, new
wine offered with smokedried salt sheep meat.
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The slaughtering of the pig
in winter is followed by
cooking ritual, directed by
the housewife who cooks
scores of dishes: racituri
(meat jelly made with pig’s
trotters), sausages and
others.
The rural tourism use a lot
this custom offering to the
tourist the whole ritual
with a rich dinner at the
end consisting of all the
particular dishes cooked
from the pork meat.
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A cradle of old civilisation, where history blends with
legend, Bucovina is known for its famous painted
monasteries - UNESCO patrimony: Moldovita,
Sucevita, Voronet, Humor. As to the architectonic and
historical aspects, the monasteries of Putna and
Dragomirna are not of less importance.
The popular architecture is really unique. The verandas,
doors and window - frames, wells and gates are real
wooden embroideries.
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The homespun, the
embroideries, the
decoration of Easter
eggs with geometrical
miniatures, the
manufacturing of
traditional costumes, are
also important part of
Bucovine's treasury.
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For example, the Trout festival in Ciocanesti (Suceava
County) which consists in a trout fishing competition,
an exhibition with dishes on trout basis, a parade of
riders with traditional costumes and, in the evening, a
rich diner with folk music and dances.
It is important to underline that in Ciocanesti, too is
organized another festival before Easter – The Painted
Eggs Festival with a cultural aim to promote the old
art of painting the eggs. So, in the same village the
cultural tourism is interweaving with the culinary one.
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Trout with cream sauce
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Smoked trout in fir-tree
box
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Dishes made from mushrooms
Sweets and strong liqueurs made from forest
berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
Preparation for AFINATA:
- mix the blueberries with the sugar
(make sure you don’t eat them all in
the process)
- leave for a few weeks
- mix with the alcohol
- leave for a few more weeks
- ENJOI !
Other Romania touristic regions
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The people living in Transylvania, a province inside
the arch of the Carpathian Mountains like a citadel
surrounded by its walls, are real gourmets, though they
are quite moderate in their eating habits.
For a foreigner to realize what the typical
Transylvanian likes to eat, he should think of the
taste of a piece of smoked lard or bacon eaten with
an onion and fresh bread from the oven, together
with a glass of strong prune brandy.
Such food would do good even to someone
exploring the North Pole.
The best fish is always the pork !
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The Transilvania region is reach in cultural and
historical places where the visitor can spent his free
time. Medieval towns like Cluj, Sibiu, Brasov, Targu
Mures, Sighisoara and others are famous for different
cultural events:
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International jazz festival in Sibiu,
International festival for pop music The golden stag in
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Remember medieval days – a week of medieval music,
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Brasov,
parades with old costumes and picnics with old and new
dishes organized in Sighisoara are only a few sports for an
European tourist.
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The province of Oltenia is laid in the south of
Romania.
The usually simple Oltenian cuisine is always
lavishly seasoned with horse radish, pepper, and
chilli pepper. Oltenian sausages are famous.
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It worth to visit Oltenia, mainly because there, in
Targu Jiu town there are some masterpieces of
our famous sculptor Constantin Brancusi.
The mountain part of Oltenia has wonderful
landscapes and some orthodox monasteries,
places of peace and reflection.
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Dobrogea is the region stretching between the Danube
and the Black Sea, where the gourmet is tempted by a
lot of flavors and tastes belonging to the Romanian
cuisine with Greek, Turkish, Tartar and Bulgarian
influences.
Tourists coming to this region, and especially those
who spend some time on the Black Sea coast, will long
remember the delicious tripe soup, noted for its
nutritional value as well as for the fact that it is said to
be a remedy after bacchic excesses.
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Turkish coffee has long
been liked for its flavor,
and the inhabitants of
Dobrogea are good at
making it, just as they
make excellent cakes
with walnuts and syrup
called baclava and
sarailie.
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From cultural point of view Dobrogea is the
cradle of our people Christianity; it still remains
from Greek and Roman periods historical and
art monuments, the cage where leaved St.
Andrew, the ruins of the first orthodox church
and others.
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The Danube Delta is a heaven of birds and fish. It is
famous not only for its beauty, which is unique in
Europe and in the world, but also for the fish dishes
prepared here.
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The traveler will undoubtedly remember the
extraordinary taste of the celebrated fisherman’s soup,
no match of which can be prepared elsewhere.
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In the last 10 – 12 years the tourism has
developed in the Danube Delta, especially sport
fishing tourism and culinary tourism, step by
step these activities becoming an important
source of income for the local population.
Conclusions
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The touristic potential of the Romania is very
high but not sufficient used because on lack of
knowledge, of suitable laws or because in this
field are working persons not qualified for the
job they are doing.
The developing of the rural tourism and agrotourism represents an important step in the
promotion of our cultural and historical heritage
to the world.
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The culinary tourism came as a logical next step,
because culture is a way of living and the
traditional cuisine and dishes are part of our
daily life.