Gastronomy as Tourism Product - Term Paper Example

Running Head: Gastronomy as Tourism Product Student’s name Institution Course Professor Date Table of Contents Introduction 2 Wholesale market excursion 2 Melbourne wholesale fruit vegetable& flower market 2 Cooking school 6 Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne 6 Information acquired by visiting a wholesale market and cooking school 7 Conclusion 7 References 8 Introduction The examination of food, culture, with a particular aim on gourmet cuisine, usually referred to as gastronomy, is a field that has played a very crucial part in the lives of many people especially those who love travelling to interesting destinations (Allen, 2007). I would say gastronomy qualifies to be considered as a tourism product though somehow gastronomy has been in existence for quite a number of years. To the level of my understanding gastronomy is the largest economic activity which has gotten the interest of almost everyone in the world regardless of geography, race or place. The study of food and culture is an activity that has been present for a very long time, and speaking the truth, gastronomy has a possibility of remaining as an exciting event even when other macro economical events start to fade away (Wolf, 2006). As a result of tourism, cooking world has become more and more sophisticated as time goes-by and new cooking styles and methods have taken the gastronomic principles to a classical and fascinating level (Gary, 2007). Wholesale market excursion Melbourne wholesale fruit vegetable& flower market Taking a tour across Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market was one big adventure that led to the understanding of why gastronomy is referred to as a product of tourism product. It happens to be the biggest market in Australia that sells various kinds of fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers (Gary, 2007). Here, not only the local farm produce are sold but also imported fruits, vegetables and flowers are also available. Wholesale market excursion became one of those interesting activities after visiting Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market; this is because, what this market has to offer is a complete proof of what gastronomy means as tourism product. It becomes a surprise when one finds fruits and flowers from his or her country being sold in a different country several miles away. In regard to this, gastronomy, therefore, has a very strong connection to tourism because what is available in this market shows that sellers want to ensure that they have what travellers like me would love to find. At Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, every kind of fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers are available; this range from French food, Italian food, Chinese food and even African food kind of food and other various kinds of food originating from other countries (Rosario &Scarparto, 2000). To my understanding, the existence of such foodstuff in Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market means that the locals here saw a need of making this market a fascinating place where not only various types of food are available but also a fascinating site to be. On a market day, Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market is flooded with people from across the world buying local fresh and locally produced vegetables, fruits and other kinds of farm produce (Allen, 2007). One could see French, Chinese, Italians and even African travellers everywhere in Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market on a market day. Though the market is open the entire week, market day is the day to shop for various kinds of food produced locally and imported foodstuff. The existence of such various kinds of foodstuff in this market shows that tourists or travellers who toured the place in the past might have introduced some of the vegetables and fruits from their own countries to the locals as they also take back what the locals had at that time but even now this is still happening in different ways because I could see that the tourists here on a market day purchase various kinds of food either to consume while they are touring the place or carry with them various kinds of fruits and other locally produced foodstuff back home.Apart from the availability of both locally produced and imported kinds of fresh vegetables, flowers and fruits at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, there are also other various kinds of activities that I experienced here; I realized that because of tourism, various events at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market take place year in year out; a short participation in various events led to my understanding that indeed the locals at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market created the events to make the place interesting not only to the local travellers but even international tourists. One other major point I experienced at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, is the existence of high-class restaurants that sell not only the locally produced food but even types of food that are not available and cannot be produced locally. The availability of all such kinds of foods and drinks in restaurants at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market brought the understanding of gastronomy being a tourism product in that if a Chinese traveller is touring the place he or she should find the exact kind of food they consume back at home, and this clearly shows that, if tourism was not in existence gastronomic activities or gastronomy travellers would definitely not be existing.Same thing applies to French travellers and Italian tourists touring Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market. According to Robert andLindsey, 1985), both local and internationaltravellers never miss to find what they normally eat or drink at their local restaurants back in there countries when visiting Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market. A visit to Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market made me realized that, there are seasonal kinds of foodstuff available. They are only available during certain seasons. As per my experience at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, the connection between seasonal foodstuff and tourism is that, seasonal kinds of foodstuff were introduced to the market because there are times when the number of both international and local travellers visiting this region is high. To the level of my understanding and experience Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, both the sellers and farmers ensure seasonal fresh vegetables and fresh fruits and other farm produce products are available when tourism activities in the region are high. My visit also led to my understanding that at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, there are quite a number of unique or certain types of farm produce and this makes Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market the most attractive markets in Australia. Among the kinds of foodstuff available at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market are fish, cheese, chemical and non-chemical wines, meat, deli goods, live ducklings, and other varieties of foodstuffs. I also realized that Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market provides various kinds of mother-loving products such as spices, seeds and grains that have origins from other countries; the other kinds of foodstuff present at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market are mushroom, nuts and goose, chicken, goat and pig meat (Robert &Lindsey, 1985). Apart from fresh farm produce products, there are other various events taking place at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower marketthat resulted due to tourism activities; such events include food and wine festivals which is a very important event at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market to both local or international travellers(Robert &Lindsey, 1985). Visiting Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, led to the understanding that this kind of event was created several years ago when tourism activities became very interesting and fan to participate in. According Jeremy (2008), the event is only practiced at a certain time of the year as a way of appreciating and promoting the food culture and wine produced by Australian industries. Cooking school Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne A visit to this Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne in Melbourne became one of the fascinating and educational short trip in understanding what exactly gastronomy means as a tourism product and how it came to existence in the first place. At Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne there are a lot of activities taking place that shows the connection between tourism and gastronomy (Jeremy &MacVeigh, 2008). Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne as a cooking school provides both theory and practical teachings that help the participants learn and master the art of culinary activities. Therefore, a short visit to this college led to the realization of how cooking schools came into existence; in the recent past, there was a need to learn the various cooking styles and methods that were introduced by the visiting travellers hence cooking schools were established. Here then at Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne school of culinary, quite a number of cooking styles and methods are available such French cooking styles, Chinese cooking techniques and Italian cooking methods (MacVeigh, 2008). By visiting this area I learnt that the physics and chemistry have progressed in that new knowledge has been introduced and applied in the way food is preserved and prepared. The set-ups of cuisine classes at Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne range from short illustrations or half day trainings for those individuals with interest in involving gastronomic experiences in their schedule to multi-day destination resort packages that are stylish for students with curiosity in a complete immersion into cookery (Erik & Wolf, 2006). The methods of cooking various kinds of food taught at Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne came into existence as a result of tourism. At Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne as a cooking school, modern ways of food transportation, freezing, refrigeration and meat canning are being taught to ensure the students master the most important basics of cooking and preservation of food. As short participation in different classes led to the realization that at Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne, students have no other choice but to learn how to cook French, African, Chinese and Italian food; therefore, this is a complete proof that gastronomy is a tourism product in that the various kinds of cooking styles were definitely introduced by the travellers (Erik & Wolf, 2006). Information acquired by visiting a wholesale market and cooking school A short trip to Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market came in handy with a complete understanding that gastronomy is indeed a product of tourism. The existence of Chinese, French, Italian and African foodstuff at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market shows that it is tourism activities that came first then gastronomy activities followed. Same thing applies to the existence of various kinds of wine including Italian wine available at various restaurants at Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market. A visit to Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne cooking school on the other hand made me realize that all the kinds of food preservations and cooking styles that are being taught at Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne cooking school resulted from tourism activities in the past. This is because knowing the best way to cook a number of both locally produced food and imported food is very important in tourism industry. Conclusion Understanding of gastronomy as a tourism was never an easy task without the knowledge obtained from the two site visit that is cooking school and wholesale market. It is now clear that gastronomic activities resulted from tourism activities. By experiencing what Melbourne wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market and Le Cordon Bleu Melbourne cooking school offers, the connection between tourism and gastronomy became clear. References Albala, Ken, Allen, Gary J., 2007. The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries. ABC-CLIO.Pp Erik, Wolf, 2006. Culinary Tourism.Cumbria, England: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Jeremy, MacVeigh, 2008. International Cuisine. Princeton, NJ: Pergaton Press Montagné, Prosper, 1988. Larousse gastronomique.New York, US: Crown Press Okumus, McKercher, Bob, 2008. Food Tourism as a Viable Market Segment Robbins, Joe, Michael, F., 2008.International Cuisine. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, John & Sons Robert, Lindsey, 1985. California Grows Her Own Cuisine. New York, US: Rosario, Scarparto, 2000. New global cuisine: Melbourne, Australia: Royal Melbourne Institute of TechnologyNenes Read More