Janez Bogataj, PhD, Emeritus Professor, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia HAS THE NOSE, ABOVE THE MOUTH, BEEN REPLACED BY THE EYES?Big changes are occurring in modern attitudes to food, including the growing awareness of local populations about the importance of food heritage and creative searching. Food has become an important element of economic, social and spiritual endeavours, reflected particularly in tourism. For results to be achieved, several steps must be taken in various areas. Among the most important is education and, at the state level, gastrodiplomacy, the effects of which greatly exceed the scope of traditional promotions.
Verena Perko, PhD PhD, Regional Museum Gorenjska, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Slovenia THE ROMAN DIETARY SYSTEM AND SIMILARITIES WITH MODERN CONSUMERISM. IMPERIUM SINE FINERoman cuisine that would be typical for the entire Roman Empire did not exist. An interlaced system of state food supply, annona, was developed. Annona was a complex organisational, economic and political system that enabled the operation of the state apparatus and the maintenance of an effective army. The system included the construction of ports, roads and warehouses, ship chartering and distribution of subsidised food, which consisted largely of agrarian crops from the latifundia of the Roman political elite.
Annona accelerated the processes of Romanization, and consequently the consumption of cereals, wine and oil. The phenomenon is reminiscent of modern globalisation.
Matija Črešnar, PhD, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, Department of Archaeology, Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Slovenia
Sarah Kiszter, Mag., Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz, Austria
Marko Mele, PhD, Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz, Austria
Andrej Paušič, PhD, University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, Slovenia
Andrej Šušek, PhD, University of Maribor, Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, Slovenia
Anja Vintar, Institute for Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Slovenia “TASTE OF MILLENNIA - EATEN, FORGOTTEN, REVIVED”Natural conditions have influenced the evolution of agriculture in north-eastern Slovenia and Southern Austrian Styria for thousands of years, which had an impact on the development of the local peculiarities in the diet.
The project "Palaeolandscape of Styria and its biodiversity from prehistory to the discovery of the New World" (with the acronym PalaeoDiversiStyria), conducted by an Austrian-Slovenian team and led by the Universalmuseum Joanneum, is financed by the Interreg programme SI-AT 2014-20. It combines the latest scientific findings from archaeology, archaeobotany and archaeozoology with modern agriculture and tourism.
Maja Godina Golija, PhD, Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts, Sociology Department, Slovenia FROM NATURE TO CULTURE. THE IMPORTANCE OF COOKBOOKS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF INNOVATIONS IN THE KITCHENIn his work entitled Mythologiques, French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss argued that the hearth and the home are places where nature is moulded into the culture. This statement summarises what is believed in many cultures worldwide, namely that the “real” food is only that which has been prepared with culturally determined practices. Cookbooks from the 19th and the early 20th century represent a treasure trove of information on these practices. This is also true of the Slovenian cookbooks, which are a reliable source of foodstuffs, meals and innovations that have been introduced in the kitchen and its equipment.
Yuko Nishimura, University of Tokyo, Japan THE SAVOURY FLAVOUR OF THE 'EGG': WASHOKU, TRADITIONAL JAPANESE FOOD, SPIRITUALITY, AND HEALINGThis paper considers how washoku, or traditional Japanese food and culture, embodies aspects of spirituality and other elements similar to those in European mythology. Firstly, I will explore the history of Japan’s dietary cultures, and then discuss why this knowledge is needed now, in the context of Japan’s societal challenges, and particularly in relation to its high suicide rate. Finally, I will describe recent food-related initiatives in the country. I will also propose a possible new societal paradigm, by sharing the essence of washoku, namely, the belief that we are all an equally precious part of the whole.
Mirjana Koren, PhD, Regional Museum Maribor, Slovenia THE DESIGN DEVELOPMENT OF MASS-PRODUCED KITCHEN FURNITURE IN MARIBOR BETWEEN 1946 AND 1990The article presents the wood-processing plants that were merged in 1960 to form the company Marles, steering the company’s future development into the production of kitchen furniture. With the construction of a factory in 1965, the company became the leading Yugoslav kitchen manufacturer. The process of the development of mass-produced kitchens by Marles is described. The focus is on kitchens involving distinct developmental and design advances. The systematically collected written, pictorial and oral sources are critically compared with the data published for the first time and acquired specially for this study from the leading Marles designer Biala Leban.
Dušan Ristić, MSc, Selerant, Serbia ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PROFESSIONAL SHARED KITCHENS FOR INNOVATION IN THE FOOD SECTORProfessional shared kitchens are an emerging phenomenon in the food sector. The paper gives a short overview of different organisations of shared kitchens. Available information on innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is considered, with the particular focus on food SMEs. Further, Newmarket Kitchen from Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland is used as a showcase for better explanation of organisation of a food business incubator. Based on the literature available, as well as on the author’s personal, professional experience, two major reasons to regard shared kitchens as places of innovation are given and explained. Some final considerations and importance of further research are indicated.
Špela Ledinek Lozej, PhD, University of Udine, Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society (DILL), Italy
Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, Ljubljana, Slovenia SECONDARY KITCHENS IN THE VIPAVA VALLEYThe paper engages the phenomenon of a secondary kitchen – a setting equipped with kitchen utensils and intended as a space of dwelling for regular or occasional food processing, as well as other activities and social interactions – by looking at the conditions, reasons, types and purposes of secondary kitchens in the context of the general changes of the Vipava Valley’s kitchens during the 20th century.
Irena Porekar Kacafura, Regional Museum Maribor, Slovenia PROGRESS IN THE KITCHEN OF A YUGOSLAV HOUSEWIFE – THE TOBI ŠPORHERT (COOKER)TOBI from Bistrica by the River Drava was the first company in Yugoslavia to master the production of cookers and refrigerators. Their TOBI šporhert made a key contribution towards the modernisation of households after World War Two. In 1948 production began of enamelled solid fuel cookers, in 1954 of enamelled electric cookers and a year later of refrigerators. But because of the unequal conditions on the domestic market, TOBI’s production could not compete with the mass production of other makers and slowly fizzled out. Their innovative and what were for their time functional and aesthetically very well-designed products have to be preserved by museums in the form of material sources.
Ion Blajan, PhD, Romanian Peasant Museum, Bucharest, Romania TRADITIONAL METHODS OF PRESERVATION OF MEAT AND THE EMERGENCE OF CANNING INDUSTRY IN THE 19TH CENTURY IN ROMANIAThe discovery of preservation capabilities by using high or low temperatures, salt, sugar, spices, vinegar or alcohol, turned the diet of humanity and changed the way of life for generations. Most conservation techniques used in the nineteenth century on the territory of Moldovia and Wallachia involved the use of salt as the main agent.
Alessandra Cioppi, PhD, Institute of History of Mediterranean Europe (ISEM), Italian National Research Council (CNR),Italy ITALIAN FOOD. PASTA AND PASTA DISHES. A HISTORICAL PATH AND GASTRONOMIC MODELAmong food, pasta has always been one of the basic foods of the ‘Mediterranean diet’, and it is so substantial to be a real indicator of ‘civilisation’ as only a few other products can boast, which are the fruit of men’s labour and intelligence. It is a food that since the old age has shown major cultural and technical-productive implications. Some customs registers of the port of Cagliari of the 14th century, preserved in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona, show how there was already, in the second half of that century, an outstanding production of pasta. It was made with prestigious durum wheat, which established an important trade towards the most illustrious marketplaces of the Medieval Mediterranean basin.
Ivan Kreft, PhD, Nutrition Institute, Slovenia
Blanka Vombergar, PhD, Education Centre Piramida Maribor, Slovenia
Marija Horvat, Education Centre Piramida Maribor, Slovenia
Stanko Vorih, Education Centre Piramida Maribor, Slovenia BUCKWHEAT IN THE KITCHEN AND FOR PEOPLEBuckwheat, once a staple food, has a special place in the cuisine and dietary habits of Slovenians and many other nations. In Slovenia, it used to be of special importance as it provided sustenance for the poor, especially during the famine in the beginning of the 19th century. Buckwheat has attractive flowers, traditionally typical for Slovenian landscape, during flowering it is an important source of nectar for honeybees. Slovenia, like other parts of the world where buckwheat has been grown, has many folk customs, proverbs, festivities, poems and stories connected with the plant. Smaller nations and ethnic minorities have often preserved buckwheat cultivation.
Neva Malek, The Education centre Piramida Maribor, Slovenia HEMP - ALMOST LOST FROM FIELDS AND PLATESUntil the American prohibition in the thirties of the last century, hemp was an important plant used for technical and diet purposes as shown by different dishes which have been preserved by individual nations through time. Also for Slovenians, hemp has been important for centuries, but only as a technical plant since in the diet of our ancestors it practically was not present. Thus, current efforts of re-cultivation and greater representation in the diet do not mean the preservation of Slovenian food and gastronomic heritage but rather a compensation for various imported superfoods and re-identification and recognition of its exceptional nutritional value.
Jelena Dunato, MA, Cres Museum, Croatia THE WHOLE LAMB: THE FORGOTTEN ART OF EATING NOSE TO TAILThe island of Cres has a local breed of sheep, tradition of extensive farming, unique pastures and a certificate for the production of eco-lamb. Cres lamb, a unique gastronomic experience, is gaining in popularity. But, in restaurants, only the prime cuts are served, the innards are thrown away. Traditionally, mutton was eaten more often than lamb, and old recipes used the whole animal. Those recipes still exist and are sometimes prepared for local feasts. Also, new recipes are introduced to make lamb more popular. However, in order to reduce the waste of food, traditional recipes will need to be reinvented and pluck brought back to menus.
Tina Novak Pucer, Regional museum Koper, Slovenia MEETING BETWEEN HUNGER AND ABUNDANCE: MEDITERRANEAN TROIKA AND TALES OF THE TABLEFood is an important cultural good, embedded in the historical and social environment; knowledge of it enables us to understand other areas of life in various periods. Previous periods typically suffered a shortage of food. However, a person of size showed outward signs of wealth and consequently abundance. Nowadays, there is enough food, at least in the Western world; the consumer industry is constantly suggesting to individuals what they should try next. This exhibition is based on field notes and museum material housed by the Koper Regional Museum, which specify a time frame – from the 19th to the mid-20th century.
Irena Žmuc, PhD, Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, Slovenia FAMINE AND ABUNDANCE IN THE PROVINCE OF CARNIOLA IN THE EARLY MODERN AGEFood is a constituent part of everyone’s daily life and is inherent in all segments of life. Today, food is increasingly seen as a way of documenting periods of civilisation and human lifestyle. New technologies for investigating the past, written documents about food, and, primarily, interest in everyday life have elevated food to the status of a fashionable research topic. Being most interested in the Early Modern Age, I see a change therein as regards the new culinary wave. The new discoveries, new world, new economy, different means of transportation, and new spices led to a new way of daily life. Big changes were introduced, such as new needs and new patterns in fashion, eating, table behaviour, kitchen elements, hygiene regulations, etc. A deep understanding of the old recipes can reveal a wide range of interesting social phenomena.
Ljubodrag P. Ristić, PhD, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Bojana Miljković Katić, PhD, Historical Institute, Belgrade, Serbia OTTOMAN-SERBIAN CUISINE AND WEST-EUROPEAN INFLUENCES – AN AMBIENCE OF CONTACTS AND DISCORD – FIRST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURYUsing the perspective of serving food and drink to foreigners and guests, the paper describes expressions of hospitality and methods of serving food and drink, with a partial description of menus for formal and special occasions. The paper shows that notes made by foreign travellers do not offer an insight into the everyday diet in Serbia, but do elucidate the cultural pattern of serving the best that the host had to offer to strangers, as well as the influence of Ottoman cuisine on Serbian food and drink preparation and consumption. Since Western European influences on Serbian cuisine were slow to spread and not nearly as pervasive, they mostly remained limited to Belgrade and some affluent families in the interior of the country.
Monika Kokalj Kočevar, PhD, National Museum of Contemporary History, Slovenia KOROŠKA LJUDSKA ZVEZA AND NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHE FRAUENSCHAFTThe article deals with the functioning of women's organisations in the framework of the Kärntner Volksbund (hereinafter KVB) and women’s organisation Nationalsozialistische Frauenschaft (hereinafter NSF) in the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (hereinafter NSDAP) during the World War II in Upper Carniola. German occupier’s authorities tried to involve all the population. Many women were active in local organisations and involved in 11 different departments of NSF. The primary objective of the NSF was to raise good German women, following the National Socialist ideology and image of German wives and mothers, whose main task was to lead their household under war conditions, in accordance with the economic responsibility to the state and nation.
Zdenka Torkar Tahir, Nina Hribar, Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice, Slovenia HOW/WHEN THE CULINARY FESTIVAL MULTIKULTINARIKA IN JESENICE IS DEVELOPINGCultural diversity is an important aspect of Jesenice. Most of the immigrants came here due to economic reasons as the Jesenice ironworks employed more than 7500 people. Political immigrants from Primorska, Carinthia and Bosnia Herzegovina came to avoid war and nationalism. At the same time role of the kitchen in the industrial city changed and along with it also changed local cuisine. We focus on memoirs about the social role of the kitchen as the centre of workers' housing. We try to establish how eating habits of ironworker families were changing along with migrations. We put emphasis on the dishes during festive seasons (dobravska reveille) and current tourist events (Multi-kulti-narika – an intercultural food festival).
Ursula Zeller, PhD, Alimentarium, Vevey, Switzerland DIGITALIZING THE ALIMENTARIUM, FOOD MUSEUM, SWITZERLAND, A SYSTEMIC APPROACHThe Alimentarium Foundation founded by Nestlé in 1980 has been running a food museum for over 30 years. In 2013, whilst planning an extension of the building, renewing the exhibition and an online virtual museum, the foundation realised that, although the content of contextualised scientifically validated food and nutrition knowledge is relevant to us all and in spite of high investments, the Alimentarium would remain limited in time and space. Therefore, in April 2013, it radically changed strategy by deciding to invest mainly in a digital outreach program anchored in the physical museum a transmedia approach to content creation and dissemination.
With this approach, the Alimentarium Foundation aims to become a worldwide reference on food and nutrition, combining a digitally and physically interconnected learning platform to share its expertise with the general public and professionals.
Tamara Ognjević, Artis Center, Belgrade, Serbia MUSEUM AND GASTRONOMY ~ FEEDING THE NATIONAL HUNGERPrivate museums in Serbia where the first to recognise primarily economic benefits of gastronomy while big, national museums still reassess presentation models that would not compromise their integrity. Gastronomy, on the other side, attracts the attention of the audience both as a vivid subject and the matter of national pride promoted by the media. Multidisciplinary research in the field of gastronomy heritage conducted by the Artis Center in cooperation with museums and related institutions since 2010, clearly points to a number of challenges that museums will have to deal with within the complex task of research, preservation and promotion of this particular form of intangible heritage. A public expectation of gastronomy as a certificate of national excellence is probably the most difficult among them.
Morena Želle, Museum of Prigorje, Croatia
Katarina Husnjak Malovec, Public Institution “Nature Park Žumberak – Samoborsko gorje“, Croatia “CULINARY MILLENNIA” – WORKSHOPS OF PREHISTORIC, ROMAN, MEDIEVAL AND TRADITIONAL CUISINE IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK IN BUDINJAK (ŽUMBERAK – SAMOBORSKO GORJE NATURE PARK)Culinary workshops have been organised during every September since 2005 with the main purpose of improving the tourist offer of the Archaeological Park in Budinjak and presenting intangible heritage of the region. One of the major goals was to enable visitors to actively participate in the program. After visiting the Archaeological Park and gaining some basic knowledge on the cultural identity of the region and on the basis of the prepared recipe book, visitors were divided into four groups to prepare and taste food from four different prehistoric and historic periods.
Mojca Vomer Gojkovič, Regional Museum Ptuj - Ormož, Slovenia ROMAN KITCHEN - A COMMON PROJECT OF PTUJ MUSEUM AND CIVIL SOCIETIESThe museum is also a place where enthusiasts of cultural heritage meet and socialise in order to present customs and habits typical of the Ptuj-Ormož area and are connected with the modern era. Some societies actively cooperate with the Ptuj Museum. Here, the Society of Women and Girls of the community of Hajdina must be mentioned, because it participates in the preparation of numerous museum events and, thus, take care of the preservation of old habits. This Society has been cooperating with the museum since 1999, when the Society members, during the international conference Ptuj in the Roman Empire, Mithraism and its Era, gave their contribution to this scientific meeting by preparing a warm reception for the conference participants in Hajdina and by serving them ancient Roman food.
Mateja Huber, Pomurje Museum, Slovenia WE ALSO COOK IN THE MUSEUM! CULINARY PEDAGOGICAL PROGRAMMES IN THE POMURJE MUSEUM MURSKA SOBOTAThe article discusses examples of pedagogical programmes in the Pomurje Museum Murska Sobota related with the culinary heritage. These programmes are based on active participation of children and are carried out in the form of museum workshops, where children cook dishes that were popular in Prekmurje in the first half of the 20th century. The preparation of dishes based on old recipes can serve as an effective learning instrument, which can help children learn about the way of life of different social classes and the effects of certain historical events in the everyday life of the people.
Tanja Kocković Zaborski, MA, Ethnographic Museum of Istria, Croatia
Ivana Šarić Žic, MA, Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka, Croatia THE MARKETPLACE – THE BELLY OF A CITYThe travelling exhibition ‘The Marketplace – the Belly of a City’ is a result of collaborative research of two museums, the Ethnographic museum of Istria and the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral Rijeka. The research was targeted to describe the correlation of vendors and buyers with the main topic being the trust between them. In this paper (and within the scope of the exhibition) authors give the insight in the Marketplace as a place to work, but also a place to learn, communicate, exchange recipes or just hang with friends. However, marketplaces also have their history, and they are an important part of the identity of the city.
Liljana Suhodolčan, Carinthian Regional Museum, Slovenia THE OLD WORLD CHARM OF SMOKEHOUSES AND SMOKE KITCHENSThe paper focuses on permanent exhibitions in the Carinthian Regional Museum, demonstrating various forms of kitchens and food preparation in the past, with an emphasis on the pedagogical workshop ‘We ate from the same bowl’. The reconstruction of the wooden Vrhnjak Smokehouse, with its typical internal furnishing, enables children to make an imaginary entrance into the past daily life. By drawing comparisons with modern everyday life, they learn about the lives of rural families in the past. Together, we are finding answers as to how they lived, where they slept, how big the families were, what they ate at different times of the year, how they ate from the same bowl, what children’s chores were, etc.
Urška Repar, Museum of Recent History Celje, Slovenia
Sebastjan Weber, Museum of Recent History Celje, Slovenia CHOCOLATE AT ‘ALL COLOURS OF CHOCOLATE’ MUSEUM EXHIBITIONThe ‘All Colours of Chocolate’ exhibition has displayed a story about chocolate as a unique historical and social phenomenon, positioned it in the local environment through a map of locations where it was possible to purchase the chocolate, and presented producers of chocolate today. Chocolate at the exhibition also appeared as a medium that is used by the artists in their work and pointed out the phenomenon of the collection and exchange of recipes. Since the Museum of Recent History cannot present chocolate as foodstuffs, the exhibition has focused on contextualization, and presented the central subject of the exhibition without an exhibition object in the strictest sense.