The “Authentic” Blend: Experts Weigh in on Istrian Food
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Abstract
This article examines the discourses and concepts of regional Istrian gourmet heroes, who bring into being and distribute ideas on what “authentic” Istrian cuisine is. Citizens of three different countries who speak four different languages, these experts consider themselves most of all Istrian and characterize Istrian foods as alternative foods in contrast to mainstream agro-industrial varieties. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this essay focuses on how these experts arbitrarily use adjectives such as “authentic,” “traditional,” “natural” and others in overlapping ways which I will show create obstacles to labelling the precise terminology of each. Ultimately I argue that these descriptors are all interchangeable in the experts’ discourse(s) on Istrian food, furthermore denoting Istrian food itself, although most of the time they absolutely do not mean the same. This mishmash is nowadays one of the main elements unifying the Istrian region as such, and while similarly present in many different places, Istria’s food movement is unique, because of its geographical and historical contexts.
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