José Antonio Vázquez-Medina is a Professor at the Tourism Management Ph.D. Program at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente in Mazatlán Sinaloa, Mexico. His current project examines the links between Foodscapes, Tourism and Public Space in Mexicó´s destinations. He takes part of the UNESCO chair on Food Culture and Development at the Universitay Oberta de Catalunya. Address: Mazatlán, Mexico
La conceptualisation de la gastronomie a connu un changement important au cours des trente dernie... more La conceptualisation de la gastronomie a connu un changement important au cours des trente dernieres annees dans le domaine des sciences sociales. Certains auteurs estiment que la gastronomie doit etre consideree comme l’etude de la relation entre la culture et l’alimentation dans le monde contemporain (Bessiere, 1998 ; Scarpato, 2002 ; Contreras, 2007 ; Espeitx, 2007). Ces approches permettent d’adopter un point de vue plus large pour etudier la facon dont les acteurs sociaux et les communau...
In the Xochimilco area, within the urban perimeter of Mexico City, a unique ancestral agri-food p... more In the Xochimilco area, within the urban perimeter of Mexico City, a unique ancestral agri-food production system persists: the chinampa system, also called chinampería. The chinampa agri-food production is a World Heritage inscribed by UNESCO and contributes to the sustainability of both the peri-urban wetland and the city. In addition, the Xochimilco area is also one of the most important domestic tourist destinations in Mexico City. The current situation of Xochimilco struggles between two core economic activities: agriculture and tourism. Although both activities contribute significantly to the development of the area, both have been noted as systematically damaging the local environment. However, emerging agriculture practices through agroecological production seem to have a positive impact in terms of better tourism praxis where the gastronomy of chinampero product plays a pivotal role. In this article, we will analyze the role of tourism in the area as a massive distorting an...
This research note aims to explore the links between food, memory, nostalgia and leisure through ... more This research note aims to explore the links between food, memory, nostalgia and leisure through a series of weekly visits to an itinerant Mexican market in the United States. Taking an ethnographic approach to the market of La Pulga held in the city of Merced in California’s San Joaquin Valley, we consider how, in the Mexican–American transnational context, this market provides an opportunity for Mexican migrants to interact with other Mexican people, recreating similar social dynamics displayed in traditional food markets in Mexico. We argue that as well as being a food supply centre, this market may be viewed as a space in which Mexican migrants seek to recreate their homeland and to enjoy an alternative leisure experience. Thus, the visit to the market may be observed as a complex activity in which the senses, the social interactions between Mexican migrants and the consumption of food in a festive setting play a central role in enabling these migrants to break with their everyday lives. Likewise, we suggest that the visit to the market every Saturday not only constitutes a leisure activity, but also serves to construct the ethnic and collective migratory identity that links Mexican migrants with their homeland.
This article explores the local-global relationship established by food tourism when urban destin... more This article explores the local-global relationship established by food tourism when urban destinations with a high volume of tourists, such as Barcelona, appropriate traditional local dishes from other regions. The case study is the pintxo, a typical and traditional ‘tapa’ from the Basque Country, which has been reappraised and adapted to the tastes of residents and tourists in a neighbourhood in central Barcelona. The neighbourhood of El Poble Sec boasts a high concentration of eateries serving pintxos. In particular its pedestrianised thoroughfare Carrer de Blai has become popular with residents and tourists alike as a place to enjoy pintxos. Visiting these eateries transforms the tourist experience and redirects it to new imaginaries, creating a gastronomic image of a destination based on new dynamics in which the relationship between the local and the global, the traditional and the authentic, becomes blurred and hazy.
The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in t... more The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in the field of the social sciences. Some authors suggested that gastronomy must be considered as the study of the relationship between culture and food in contemporary world (Bessiere, 1998; Scarpato, 2002; Poulain, 2011). These approaches set the basis to explore from a wider perspective on how social actors and communities implied in gastronomy articulate their social life around this activity. Thu...
This paper analyses how UNESCO’s intangible human heritage designation has led to traditional Mex... more This paper analyses how UNESCO’s intangible human heritage designation has led to traditional Mexican cuisine being turned into a resource for gastronomic tourism, showing how the State has commodified traditional culinary knowledge for the promotion of tourism. This promotion includes an official discourse that has been appropriated by traditional women cooks, who use these promotional events to build new culinary canons. This article enables a discussion of how traditional Mexican cuisine has become part of a global logic, and how its designation as intangible heritage articulates tension, discussion and negotiation among food tourism industry stakeholders. Findings show a multilateral perspective of the consequences of a cultural event becoming a tourist resource, as well as its conceptualization and transformation in the framework of the today’s global context, that requires a more flexible approach to provide definitions.
Throughout the history of Mexico, traditional cuisine has been associated with women. Nowadays, c... more Throughout the history of Mexico, traditional cuisine has been associated with women. Nowadays, current economic conditions have forced more women to extrapolate the domestic culinary knowledge to public kitchens. In addition, the rise and popularisation of culinary education has allowed the recruitment of more women in extra-domestic kitchens. While preparing food, these women share the way they see the world in the meanings they confer to the culinary work. These similarities make these women be perceived as social actors characterised by shared values, attitudes and capabilities. This article analyses the social dynamics that take place in the configuration of the occupational identities of women in Mexican public kitchens of the twenty-first century.
Cuando desde el frente academico se reflexiona sobre la cocina y la comida mexicanas, resulta cue... more Cuando desde el frente academico se reflexiona sobre la cocina y la comida mexicanas, resulta cuestionable no mencionar a Jeffrey M. Pilcher. A pesar de la prolifica obra del autor sobre historia de la alimentacion a escala global que va desde los nacionalismos culinarios y el criollismo en America Latina hasta la historia del consumo de bebidas como la cerveza, gran parte de su produccion cientifica explora distintas problematicas sobre la alimentacion en Mexico. Una constante en el trabajo de Pilcher sobre Mexico es la mirada critica sobre la maleabilidad de la cocina mexicana, en tanto practica cultural, como consecuencia de los cambios sociales y economicos sucedidos a traves del tiempo, asi como sus repercusiones en las expresiones del sistema culinario mexicano. Mas que una resena sobre su obra, este texto es una apreciacion academica de algunos de los trabajos del autor sobre la alimentacion, la gastronomia y la cocina de Mexico.
The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in t... more The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in the field of the social sciences. Some authors suggested that gastronomy must be considered as the study of the relationship between culture and food in contemporary world (Bessiere, 1998; Scarpato, 2002; Poulain, 2011). These approaches set the basis to explore from a wider perspective on how social actors and communities implied in gastronomy articulate their social life around this activity. Thu...
La conceptualizacion de la gastronomia ha experimentado un cambio importante en las ultimas tres ... more La conceptualizacion de la gastronomia ha experimentado un cambio importante en las ultimas tres decadas en el campo de las ciencias sociales. Algunos autores sugieren que la gastronomia debe ser considerada como el estudio de la relacion entre la cultura y la alimentacion en el mundo contemporaneo (Bessiere, 1998; Scarpato, 2002; Contreras, 2007; Espeitx, 2007). Estos enfoques establecen la base para explorar desde una perspectiva mas amplia, como los actores sociales y las comunidades impli...
This chapter explores three models of supply and procurement of Mexican food in the United States... more This chapter explores three models of supply and procurement of Mexican food in the United States. The first one explains the transportation of food stuffs by migrants themselves or other subjects who are socially linked to them. The second model illuminates the provision of prepared foods or artisan products that are made and sold in the place of residence, to clients who are predominantly compatriots of the producers. Finally, we present new strategies that are being adopted by the owners of family restaurants, examining the practices that arise from supply between compatriots of the same migratory status. In this chapter, we aim to illustrate how Mexican migrants set strategies to preserve their native food culture in order to maintain their links with Mexico.
La conceptualisation de la gastronomie a connu un changement important au cours des trente dernie... more La conceptualisation de la gastronomie a connu un changement important au cours des trente dernieres annees dans le domaine des sciences sociales. Certains auteurs estiment que la gastronomie doit etre consideree comme l’etude de la relation entre la culture et l’alimentation dans le monde contemporain (Bessiere, 1998 ; Scarpato, 2002 ; Contreras, 2007 ; Espeitx, 2007). Ces approches permettent d’adopter un point de vue plus large pour etudier la facon dont les acteurs sociaux et les communau...
In the Xochimilco area, within the urban perimeter of Mexico City, a unique ancestral agri-food p... more In the Xochimilco area, within the urban perimeter of Mexico City, a unique ancestral agri-food production system persists: the chinampa system, also called chinampería. The chinampa agri-food production is a World Heritage inscribed by UNESCO and contributes to the sustainability of both the peri-urban wetland and the city. In addition, the Xochimilco area is also one of the most important domestic tourist destinations in Mexico City. The current situation of Xochimilco struggles between two core economic activities: agriculture and tourism. Although both activities contribute significantly to the development of the area, both have been noted as systematically damaging the local environment. However, emerging agriculture practices through agroecological production seem to have a positive impact in terms of better tourism praxis where the gastronomy of chinampero product plays a pivotal role. In this article, we will analyze the role of tourism in the area as a massive distorting an...
This research note aims to explore the links between food, memory, nostalgia and leisure through ... more This research note aims to explore the links between food, memory, nostalgia and leisure through a series of weekly visits to an itinerant Mexican market in the United States. Taking an ethnographic approach to the market of La Pulga held in the city of Merced in California’s San Joaquin Valley, we consider how, in the Mexican–American transnational context, this market provides an opportunity for Mexican migrants to interact with other Mexican people, recreating similar social dynamics displayed in traditional food markets in Mexico. We argue that as well as being a food supply centre, this market may be viewed as a space in which Mexican migrants seek to recreate their homeland and to enjoy an alternative leisure experience. Thus, the visit to the market may be observed as a complex activity in which the senses, the social interactions between Mexican migrants and the consumption of food in a festive setting play a central role in enabling these migrants to break with their everyday lives. Likewise, we suggest that the visit to the market every Saturday not only constitutes a leisure activity, but also serves to construct the ethnic and collective migratory identity that links Mexican migrants with their homeland.
This article explores the local-global relationship established by food tourism when urban destin... more This article explores the local-global relationship established by food tourism when urban destinations with a high volume of tourists, such as Barcelona, appropriate traditional local dishes from other regions. The case study is the pintxo, a typical and traditional ‘tapa’ from the Basque Country, which has been reappraised and adapted to the tastes of residents and tourists in a neighbourhood in central Barcelona. The neighbourhood of El Poble Sec boasts a high concentration of eateries serving pintxos. In particular its pedestrianised thoroughfare Carrer de Blai has become popular with residents and tourists alike as a place to enjoy pintxos. Visiting these eateries transforms the tourist experience and redirects it to new imaginaries, creating a gastronomic image of a destination based on new dynamics in which the relationship between the local and the global, the traditional and the authentic, becomes blurred and hazy.
The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in t... more The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in the field of the social sciences. Some authors suggested that gastronomy must be considered as the study of the relationship between culture and food in contemporary world (Bessiere, 1998; Scarpato, 2002; Poulain, 2011). These approaches set the basis to explore from a wider perspective on how social actors and communities implied in gastronomy articulate their social life around this activity. Thu...
This paper analyses how UNESCO’s intangible human heritage designation has led to traditional Mex... more This paper analyses how UNESCO’s intangible human heritage designation has led to traditional Mexican cuisine being turned into a resource for gastronomic tourism, showing how the State has commodified traditional culinary knowledge for the promotion of tourism. This promotion includes an official discourse that has been appropriated by traditional women cooks, who use these promotional events to build new culinary canons. This article enables a discussion of how traditional Mexican cuisine has become part of a global logic, and how its designation as intangible heritage articulates tension, discussion and negotiation among food tourism industry stakeholders. Findings show a multilateral perspective of the consequences of a cultural event becoming a tourist resource, as well as its conceptualization and transformation in the framework of the today’s global context, that requires a more flexible approach to provide definitions.
Throughout the history of Mexico, traditional cuisine has been associated with women. Nowadays, c... more Throughout the history of Mexico, traditional cuisine has been associated with women. Nowadays, current economic conditions have forced more women to extrapolate the domestic culinary knowledge to public kitchens. In addition, the rise and popularisation of culinary education has allowed the recruitment of more women in extra-domestic kitchens. While preparing food, these women share the way they see the world in the meanings they confer to the culinary work. These similarities make these women be perceived as social actors characterised by shared values, attitudes and capabilities. This article analyses the social dynamics that take place in the configuration of the occupational identities of women in Mexican public kitchens of the twenty-first century.
Cuando desde el frente academico se reflexiona sobre la cocina y la comida mexicanas, resulta cue... more Cuando desde el frente academico se reflexiona sobre la cocina y la comida mexicanas, resulta cuestionable no mencionar a Jeffrey M. Pilcher. A pesar de la prolifica obra del autor sobre historia de la alimentacion a escala global que va desde los nacionalismos culinarios y el criollismo en America Latina hasta la historia del consumo de bebidas como la cerveza, gran parte de su produccion cientifica explora distintas problematicas sobre la alimentacion en Mexico. Una constante en el trabajo de Pilcher sobre Mexico es la mirada critica sobre la maleabilidad de la cocina mexicana, en tanto practica cultural, como consecuencia de los cambios sociales y economicos sucedidos a traves del tiempo, asi como sus repercusiones en las expresiones del sistema culinario mexicano. Mas que una resena sobre su obra, este texto es una apreciacion academica de algunos de los trabajos del autor sobre la alimentacion, la gastronomia y la cocina de Mexico.
The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in t... more The conceptualization of gastronomy has undergone a major change over the last three decades in the field of the social sciences. Some authors suggested that gastronomy must be considered as the study of the relationship between culture and food in contemporary world (Bessiere, 1998; Scarpato, 2002; Poulain, 2011). These approaches set the basis to explore from a wider perspective on how social actors and communities implied in gastronomy articulate their social life around this activity. Thu...
La conceptualizacion de la gastronomia ha experimentado un cambio importante en las ultimas tres ... more La conceptualizacion de la gastronomia ha experimentado un cambio importante en las ultimas tres decadas en el campo de las ciencias sociales. Algunos autores sugieren que la gastronomia debe ser considerada como el estudio de la relacion entre la cultura y la alimentacion en el mundo contemporaneo (Bessiere, 1998; Scarpato, 2002; Contreras, 2007; Espeitx, 2007). Estos enfoques establecen la base para explorar desde una perspectiva mas amplia, como los actores sociales y las comunidades impli...
This chapter explores three models of supply and procurement of Mexican food in the United States... more This chapter explores three models of supply and procurement of Mexican food in the United States. The first one explains the transportation of food stuffs by migrants themselves or other subjects who are socially linked to them. The second model illuminates the provision of prepared foods or artisan products that are made and sold in the place of residence, to clients who are predominantly compatriots of the producers. Finally, we present new strategies that are being adopted by the owners of family restaurants, examining the practices that arise from supply between compatriots of the same migratory status. In this chapter, we aim to illustrate how Mexican migrants set strategies to preserve their native food culture in order to maintain their links with Mexico.
El presente estudio explora las dinámicas de la comensalidad entre los preparadores de alimentos... more El presente estudio explora las dinámicas de la comensalidad entre los preparadores de alimentos que laboran en restaurantes de comida mexicana en Estados Unidos a través las resistencias alimentarias que se visibilizan al interior de las cocinas de dichos establecimientos. Así mismo, se explica cómo estas prácticas forman parte constitutiva de la identidad alimentaria transmigrante.
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