Determinants of consumers' motivation towards ethnic food: evidence from Indonesia

PurposeThe research objective is to explore consumers' (those of ethnic origin and non-ethnic origin) motivation for choosing ethnic food.Design/methodology/approachA total of 120 respondents were approached at Padang restaurants in Jakarta, and personal interviews were conducted using soft laddering techniques linking to means-end chain (MEC) analysis. The associations among attributes, consequences and values were mapped into a graphical hierarchy to depict the cognitive structure of consuming ethnic food.FindingsThe unique and spicy taste of Padang food, as well as preferences for the cuisine, was identified as the determinants of consumption of Padang food. In addition, the Minang people still considered the food's origin and tradition when consuming it. “Financial security” and “happiness” were identified as the desired values that consumers want to achieve.Research limitations/implicationsThe extent to which acculturation affects consumers' decision-making on consuming ethnic food has not been significantly investigated.Practical implicationsPadang food can be promoted by highlighting its traditions and unique, spicy taste. These are key messages to attract consumers of Padang ethnic food.Originality/valueThe paper presents an original motivations and cognitive structures for eating Padang food.

Berries instead of bears: new insight into gastronomic attractiveness of Russian Siberia

Active use of berries in regional cuisines underlines gastronomic specifics of Russia. The present study focuses on three regions of Russian Siberia and establishes that edible berries are numerous there and determine specifics of the regional cuisine rooted into the cultural traditions. These cultural and gastronomic traditions developed during four centuries by Russian settlers in Siberia who adapted to severe natural conditions, explored new food resources, and interacted with the local peoples. If so, berries and berry products can be regarded as a kind of ethnic food. Modern berries-based tourism (bacatourism) initiatives and, particularly, berry picking and tasting at you-pick farms and raspberry festival are registered on the study territory. Sellers tend to position berry products as typically Siberian, which permits their use as regional, quasi-ethnic souvenirs. Berries determine significant gastronomic attractiveness of Southern Siberia, and further exploitation of this potential can contribute to sustainable development of this vast territory and maintaining its cultural identity within the broad and diverse Russian space.

Bringing fruity meat dishes of Ottoman cuisine into businesses

Aim of this research is to promote the inclusion of traditional Ottoman fruity meat dishes into business. Chefs working in various food establishments in Eskisehir were given training on fruity meat dishes for a total of 40 h in 10 training segments. Interviews were conducted, analyzed and evaluated in terms of the themes. The inclusion of fruity meat dishes of Ottoman cuisine in businesses would pose no difficulty at any stage of preliminary preparation, cooking, or budgeting. The inclusion of these dishes in the fast-breaking menu during the Ramadan and making small adjustments in accordance with customer feedback would help include these meals. During this study, the kitchen staff gained insight regarding Ottoman cuisine, they became more adept at implementing fruity meat techniques, and the business managers and owners showed much care and support toward upholding of Ottoman ethnic foods. Recognizing the growing demand for ethnic food, fruity meat dishes of Ottoman cuisine is been brought into businesses.

Ethnic food culture of Chhattisgarh state of India

Chhattisgarh state is situated in the central part of India and is also known as the ‘Bowl of rice’. Paddy is the principal crop of this state, and rice is the staple diet of the people. The state largely maintains its ethnic food culture as most of its population continues to live within rural and tribal areas. The state has nearly 44% of forest cover which serves as a decent source of food. People here prefer a vegetarian diet, and over 70 varieties of leaves, 25 varieties of tubers and roots are used here as vegetables. The present article is an attempt to explore the ethnic food culture of Chhattisgarh and to provide information about rice and non-rice-based traditional recipes, sweet dishes, leafy vegetables, tubers and roots which are consumed here. Irrespective of all the modern changes in food habits, the people of Chhattisgarh still preserve their traditional food culture.

The Advantage of Transnational Coethnic Networks

This is a case study of the cross-ethnicization and globalization of an ethnic food by entrepreneurial Korean Chinese. Korean Chinese (also referred to as Joseonjok or Chaoxianzu) in China came from a strong agricultural background with little tradition of commerce and no tradition of consuming lamb meat. However, when Xinjiang-style barbecue-lamb skewers were introduced to their community in the early 1980s, Korean Chinese fell in love with this exotic food. Soon, Korean Chinese entrepreneurs began opening their own barbecue-lamb-skewer restaurants. Within the next two decades, they transformed this humble street food into a luxurious gourmet food through various innovative measures. They also globalized the barbecue-lamb-skewer business by expanding it to other cities in China, South Korea, Japan, the United States and beyond. Based on fieldwork conducted in Korean Chinese communities in China, South Korea and Japan, we found that their transnational coethnic networks were the key behind this intriguing success in ethnic entrepreneurialism. This paper explores how the Korean Chinese developed their transnational coethnic networks, and how these networks contributed to this formerly non-coethnic lamb-skewer business.

Traditional food preparation of wild edible vegetables among the ethnic groups of Mizoram, North East India

Exploration of ethnic traditional food recipes has an immense contribution to the preservation and sustainability of traditional food habits and culture. The main objective of this study was to explore and document traditional food recipes prepared from wild edible vegetables among two ethnic groups of Mizoram, Northeast India. The method employed for this study was mainly based on a household survey; randomly selected 35 households in Aizawl district representing the major ethnic groups, namely Hmar and Paihte. Information was collected on different types of wild edible vegetables ethnic food, as prepared and consumed by the local people. Twenty-four types of traditional food recipes were documented according to their seasonal availability, and the affinities of choices in food consumption are comparable among the two ethnic groups. It was also reported that wild edible vegetables play a significant role in safeguarding food security and improve nutrition in diets. The present work documents the wild edible vegetables used traditionally by two ethnic groups of Mizoram for various recipes and highlights the necessity of conserving such traditional knowledge besides throwing light on their economic potential. The study suggests that future investigation be carried out to evaluate the nutritional and bioactive properties of wild edible vegetables.