TRADITION AND INNOVATION – CULINARRY TOURISM

1. Innovation in Nature Based Tourism Services TRADITION AND INNOVATION – CULINARRY TOURISM Ass. prof. Ph.D. Angela ALBU, “Stefan cel Mare” University, Suceava, ROMANIA

2. Culinary tourism as a form of tourism • “Culinary tourism" suggests the idea of experiencing other cultures through food. • Culinary Tourism is about how to best develop and market a new kind of visitor attraction - unique and memorable food and drink experiences.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Classical tourism Commune (general) cuisine International cuisine Nature - based tourism Local cuisine Traditional cuisine Ecological food products Nature – based tourism depends of the local cuisine more than the classical tourism

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Some general aspects of the Romanian tourism

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Culinary tourism in Romania • 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.

14. 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. • An existential Romanian question is: We eat to live, or live to eat?

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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 smoke-dried salt sheep meat.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. Trout with cream sauce • Smoked trout in fir-tree box

26. 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 !

27. Other Romania touristic regions • 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.

28. The best fish is always the pork !

29. 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: • International jazz festival in Sibiu, • International festival for pop music The golden stag in Brasov, • Remember medieval days – a week of medieval music, parades with old costumes and picnics with old and new dishes organized in Sighisoara are only a few sports for an European tourist.

30. 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.

31. 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.

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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.

35. 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. • The traveler will undoubtedly remember the extraordinary taste of the celebrated fisherman’s soup, no match of which can be prepared elsewhere.

36. 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.

37. Conclusions • 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 agro-tourism represents an important step in the promotion of our cultural and historical heritage to the world.

38. 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.