engleski

Sensing nostalgia throught traditional food: an insight from Croatia

Purpose – Due to the growing trend of consuming healthy food, which reproduces the ideal of the food we tried in our childhood, an increasing number of researchers have brought together the values of tradition, nostalgia and food. The purpose of the paper is to explore the relationship between food and nostalgia in order to find out in which way they affect each other. Design/methodology/approach – In order to explore the perspectives of traditional food in recollecting and re-experiencing positive past experiences, both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in two stages. Firstly, focus group interviews were conducted with ten restaurant chefs in three different regions of Croatia. Then, a survey was carried out with 362 Croatian consumers.. Findings – Focus group results show that although traditional food creates new opportunities for differentiation, finding the right ingredients and time for cooking traditional food is still a problem. There is a low interest in traditional food in restaurants, as domestic patrons mostly worry about the high prices, while foreign ones do not know anything about such foods due to the inadequate promotion of Croatian gastronomic offer. Survey results indicate that consumers are familiar with traditional Croatian food, eat it regularly at home and consider it as food with high quality aspects that reminds them of their childhood and positive past experiences.

tradition ; nostalgia ; food ; Croatia

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