Identity and Gozitan Culinary Tourism: Two Case Studies SUE SAMUELSON AWARD FOR FOODWAYS SCHOLARSHIP 2017

Main Article Content

Kylie Schroeder

Abstract

This examination of two sites of culinary tourism on the Mediterranean island of Gozo explores the ways in which each defines “authentic” Gozitan identity through the selection and intensification of specific food ingredients, recipes, production processes, and educational activities. Fieldwork revealed how each site variably stresses these food production aspects to manufacture a version of Gozitan identity and uses the rhetoric of authenticity to assign value to a romantic representation of Gozitan culinary heritage. Beyond providing education about local ingredients, traditional agricultural methods, and the food preparation processes according to recipes handed down through generations, each site offers visitors tangible representations of Gozitan identity that they may take home and continue to interact with: material objects that have also been carefully selected, presented, and commodified for the tourist gaze.

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Author Biography

Kylie Schroeder

Kylie Schroeder received her M.A. from Utah State University’s Folklore Program in 2018, where her thesis research examined the constraints of local haunted heritage tourism. Originally from Kaukauna, Wisconsin, she completed her undergraduate work in Anthropology and Folklore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Other research interests include culinary tourism and digital folklore.