Arenas for Transferring Culinary Culture "Gastronomy Competitions": An Example of a UNESCO Gastronomy City
Öz
Gastronomy competitions are increasingly recognised as public arenas in which culinary practices are performed, evaluated and culturally reproduced. Previous studies have mostly examined such events in relation to tourism promotion, destination visibility and economic outcomes, while their cultural role in the transmission, representation and sustainability of culinary culture has remained comparatively underexplored. Guided by the research question “Through which mechanisms do gastronomy competitions produce cultural sustainability?”, this study examines the meanings attributed to the competition experience by stakeholders involved in the Gaziantep National Cooking Competition. An interpretive qualitative research design was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 stakeholders, including competitors, jury members, organisers, academics and gastronomy professionals. The data were analysed following Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis approach. The findings show that gastronomy competitions contribute to culinary sustainability through the mechanisms of performative representation of cultural identity, experiential learning, intergenerational knowledge transfer, authenticity negotiation and selective visibility. However, competitions may also narrow the diversity of culinary heritage by prioritising recognisable and symbolic dishes. The study conceptualises gastronomy competitions as “mediating cultural infrastructures” operating between tradition and contemporary professional practice, and explains cultural sustainability not as the preservation of fixed recipes but as an ongoing process of practice, interaction and reinterpretation.
Anahtar Kelimeler
- Culinary Heritage
- Cultural Sustainability
- Gastronomy Competitions
- Food Representation
- Gastronomy Events
Etik Beyan
Kaynakça
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Ayrıntılar
Birincil Dil
İngilizce
Konular
Mutfak Kültürü, Aşçılık
Bölüm
Araştırma Makalesi
Yayımlanma Tarihi
27 Haziran 2026
Gönderilme Tarihi
25 Nisan 2026
Kabul Tarihi
5 Haziran 2026
Yayımlandığı Sayı
Yıl 2026 Cilt: 7 Sayı: 1