TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW TO GASTRONOMICAL TOURSM
Learning Outcome:
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
a. Explain and appreciate the meaning, history and importance of gastronomical tourism.
b. Discuss the relationship of culinary and food tourism to gastronomy.
c. Describe the gastronomical identity model.
Humans require food in order to survive. It provides us with essential nutrients for daily
functioning and well-being. However, food is more than just nutrition. Food brings back memories
of family dinners. When we are sad, it makes us happy. It introduces us to various cultures. These
psychosocial factors are used in gastronomic tourism.
As global tourism grows and competition between destinations intensifies, unique local and
regional intangible cultural heritage becomes an increasingly important deciding factor in
attracting tourists.
Food-making is an integral part of many destinations' history and identity, and it has become
a key component in the nation's brand image. Gastronomy tourism represents a chance to
revitalize and diversify tourism, promote local economic development, involve a wide range of
professional sectors, and bring new uses to the primary sector. As a result, gastronomy tourism
helps to promote and brand destinations, maintain and preserve local traditions and diversity, and
harness and reward authenticity.
Gastronomic tourism encourages mutual understanding among people of many cultures, in
addition to its economic value. Today, gastronomy tourism encompasses a wide range of
services. It has increased the enjoyment and knowledge opportunities provided by high-quality
local culinary products in various areas, as well as the activities available in their productive and
processing environment. Gastronomy tourism is thus built on the concept of understanding and
learning about a territory’s gastronomic culture, as well as eating, and enjoying it.
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Topic I: MEANING OF GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and
serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the
science of good eating.
One who is well versed in gastronomy is called a gastronome, while a gastronomist is one who
unites theory and practice in the study of gastronomy.
What is Gastronomy Tourism?
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines gastronomy tourism as “a type of
tourism activity which is characterized by the visitor’s experience linked with food and related
products and activities while travelling.” Along with authentic, traditional, and/or innovative
culinary experiences, Gastronomy Tourism may also involve other related activities such as
visiting the local producers, participating in food festivals and attending cooking classes.
Gastronomic tourism is a popular type of tourism that involves visiting food producers, food
festivals, restaurants, and special places in order to taste a specific type of food, watch a food
being produced, or eat a food cooked by a famous chef.
Gastronomic tourism is perfectly suited to meeting the needs of people of various ages and
cultures. Food is uniquely suited to promoting individual cultures and bringing people together
from various backgrounds.
You can plan a gastronomic tour no matter where you live. Perhaps you should begin by
highlighting the food and beverage establishments in your area. You could even set aside a
specific date each month to bring together local food trucks and live music. You can make
anything you can imagine. Gastronomic tourism allows you to turn your love of food, spirits, and
culture into an exciting and rewarding career.
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Topic II: IMPORTANCE OF GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Gastronomy is much more than just food. It reflects different peoples' cultures, heritage,
traditions, and sense of community. It is a method of promoting cultural understanding and
bringing people and traditions closer together. Gastronomy tourism is also emerging as an
important cultural heritage protector, and the sector helps create opportunities, including jobs,
particularly in rural areas.
Gastronomy plays an important role in tourism development because eating local food is
traditionally associated with the places visited. By focusing on food as a "cultural reference point,"
it is possible to combine the efforts of producers and tour operators to contribute to regional
development and tourism progress in the territories.
Importance of Gastronomical Tourism
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Cultural Enrichment
Economic Stability
Community Development
Employment and Income
Restoration and Preservation
Innovations
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Social Understanding
Spread of Tourism
Broader Culinary Experience
Higher demands for varied styles of
cuisines for food service operators.
Topic III: HISTORY OF GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Gastronomy is derived from the Greek word 'gastros' which means stomach, and 'nomos'
which refers to knowledge or regulation. In actual fact, this term relates to food knowledge. Most
dictionaries define gastronomy in terms of the art and science of good / delicate eating.
Gastronomy involves discovering, tasting, experiencing, researching, understanding and writing
about food preparation and the sensory qualities of human nutrition as a whole. It also studies
how nutrition interfaces with the broader culture. The biological and chemical basis of cooking
has become known as molecular gastronomy, while gastronomy covers a much broader,
interdisciplinary ground.
This is the first example of a carte gastronomique, a map that
summarizes a country by its products at the outset of the "Cours
Gastronomique" by Charles Louis Cadet de Gassicourt (1809).
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Pascal Ory, a French historian, defines gastronomy as the establishment of rules of
eating and drinking, an "art of the table", and distinguishes it from good cooking (bonne cuisine)
or fine cooking (haute cuisine). Ory traces the origins of gastronomy back to the French reign
of Louis XIV when people took interest in developing rules to discriminate between good and bad
style and extended their thinking to define good culinary taste. The lavish and sophisticated
cuisine and practices of the French court became the culinary model for the French.
Alexandre Grimod de La Reynière wrote the gastronomic work Almanach des
gourmands (1803), elevating the status of food discourse to a disciplined level based on his views
of French tradition and morals. Grimod aimed to reestablish order lost after the revolution and
institute gastronomy as a serious subject in France. Grimod expanded gastronomic literature to
the three forms of the genre: the guidebook, the gastronomic treatise, and the gourmet periodical.
The invention of gastronomic literature coincided with important cultural transformations in France
that increased the relevance of the subject. The end of nobility in France changed how people
consumed food; fewer wealthy households employed cooks and the new bourgeoisie class
wanted to assert their status by consuming elitist food. The emergence of the restaurant satisfied
these social needs and provided good food available for popular consumption. The center of
culinary excellence in France shifted from Versailles to Paris, a city with a competitive and
innovative culinary culture. The culinary commentary of Grimod and other gastronomes
influenced the tastes and expectations of consumers in an unprecedented manner as a third party
to the consumer-chef interaction.
The derivative gourmet has come into use since the publication of Physiology of Taste
(Physiologie du goût) an 1825 cooking treatise by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a lawyer
and politician who aimed to define classic French cuisine. While the work contains some
flamboyant recipes, it goes into the theory of preparation of French dishes and hospitality.
According to Brillat-Savarin: "Gastronomy is the knowledge and understanding of all that relates
to man as he eats. Its purpose is to ensure the conservation of men, using the best food possible."
WRITINGS ON GASTRONOMY
Many gastronomic writings from around the world capture the thoughts and aesthetics of a
culture's cuisine at a specific point in time. Some works have defined or influenced contemporary
gastronomic thought and cuisine in their respective cultures.
Some additional historical examples:
1. Apicius or De re Coquinaria (On the Subject of Cooking): A 1st-to-5th-century collection
of ancient Roman recipes, often attributed (without clear evidence) to the gourmet Marcus
Gavius Apicius, it contains instructions for preparing dishes enjoyed by the elite of the
time. A new English translation was published in 2009 as Cookery and Dining in Imperial
Rome.
2. Suiyuan Shidan (隨園食單, The Way of Eating, also known in English as Recipes from
the Garden of Contentment): An 18th-century manual on Chinese cuisine of Qing dynasty
by the poet Yuan Mei, it contains recipes from different social classes at the time along
with two chapters on Chinese gastronomic and culinary theory. The first translation into
English was completed in 2017.
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Topic IV: GASTRONOMICAL IDENTITY MODEL
The gastronomic identity is influenced by the cultural and environmental factors. While
geographical conditions and climate affect the food produced, they also limit the flavor. If the
destination is an island, then the eating habits will mostly depend on fishing. The food quality is
also related to geography, as a food is grown in a place where it belongs, are considered as a
good quality. Also, religion, history and traditions will demark the eating habits. For example, the
halal food for Muslim is an important issue and defined as the food which is allowed in Islamic
terms or conditions. Besides, the wealth and
social status of the society may influence the identity. As stated before, the multiculturalism affects
the gastronomic identity. Innovations, the changes in producing and processing food, new foods
and products also have significant effects on the identity. Those environmental and cultural factors
do not only influence the identity itself but also give a symbolic meaning. Foods are also "placed
cultural artifacts" which symbolize the identity.
Topic V: RELATIONSHIP OF FOOD AND CULINARY TOURISM TO GASTRONOMY
WHAT IS CULINARY TOURISM?
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Culinary tourism or food tourism is the exploration of food as the purpose of tourism. It is
now considered a vital component of the tourism experience. Dining out is common
among tourists and "food is believed to rank alongside climate, accommodation, and
scenery" in importance to tourists.
In other definition, culinary or food tourism is the pursuit of unique and memorable eating
and drinking experiences, both near and far.
Culinary during 1630s means "of the kitchen
Culinary during 1650s means "pertaining to the art of cookery," from Latin culinarius
Culinary is a latin word culina that means kitchen or cooking stove and used for meal,
food and dish. Dish refers to ingredients, foods that re prepared, beverages, production
process and activities.
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
Culinary tourism is described as "tourist visits in which the purchase or consumption of
regional foods (including drinks), or the observation and study of food production (from agriculture
to cookery schools) are a major incentive or activity." and this can be interpreted as a "food
culture" with the transmission of knowledge about the location and its culture through tradition.
While some people are looking for and interested in similar preferences, others are looking for
and interested in different tastes. In this regard, it is important to note that food consumption is
not the same as it is in one's daily routine. Aside from the norm, tourism allows them to try new
foods and tastes. Culinary tourism is defined as involvement in distinctive or unique food
experiences associated to a tourist destination and is based on the food experience. Culinary
tourism is defined as "visits to primary and secondary food producers, food festivals, restaurants,
and distinctive sites for which the primary goal to travel is food tasting and/or experiencing the
qualities of specialist food production."
As a subset of cultural tourism, gastronomic tourism encompasses not only restaurant dining,
food festivals, factory tours, educational seminars, and farm visits, but also chefs, media, and
tourism providers, catering services, tourism services, governmental regulations, public
awareness, food image, promotion, and marketing.
Culinary tourism, in other words, can include live-in cooking classes, traditional gastronomic
feasts and festivities, grape harvesting, and/or visits to regional wineries and food producers.
However, food tourism and food intake as part of travel should not be conflated at this time.
Tourism and food are two businesses that share a significant similarity in that they are both rising
demand and output, and, curiously, both industries are developing their own style reasons for this
development in production.
FOOD TRAVEL & FOOD TOURISM
“The act of traveling for a taste of place in order to get a sense of place.” The definition of this
phrase automatically includes beverages because “food and beverage tourism” is cumbersome
to say. Also, it is implied that if people are eating, they are probably drinking as well. It use “food
travel” and “food tourism” interchangeably.
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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TMPE 1 - PHILIPPINE GASTRONOMICAL TOURISM
CULINARY TOURISM
World food travel association began with this phrase when the industry was young, but then
realized after 10 years, that native English speakers found the phrase a bit pretentious. That
surprised us as this was never our intent. Still, the elitist perception of the phrase remains.
“Culinary” echoes time spent in professional culinary training to become a chef. While it may not
be the best phrase, it does already include “beverages” without further explanation. And in certain
circumstances, such as discussing “culinary culture,” to our ears, this phrase simply sounds better
than “food culture”, although again, the terms are interchangeable.
GASTRONOMY TOURISM
They find this phrase used mostly in Europe, and mostly among speakers of romance languages.
For them, “food travel” sounds very basic and banal – almost like cavemen hunting for food or
searching for food in a grocery store. For Europeans, “gastronomy” is the term used to explain an
area’s culinary culture, and for them, it follows that “gastronomy tourism” makes the most sense.
To native English speakers, the phrase sounds a bit “elitist” but in context, we understand why
this term is used. In these areas, we find it perfectly acceptable to use the term “gastronomy
tourism.”
CULINARY CULTURE
The overall culinary and gastronomy heritage of a destination. This includes customs, traditions,
recipes, dishes, cooking techniques, utensils, cooking stories, unique ingredients, and history.
Food tourism includes activities such as:
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Food tours
Cooking Classes
Specialty dining experience
Research and experiments
Wine, beer, and food festivals
KATHLEEN MAE G. LOPEZ, LPT
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