Kristina Bučar

Sensing nostalgia through traditional food: an insight from Croatia

Purpose – Due to the growing trend of consuming healthy food, which reproduces the ideal of the food the authors tried in their childhood, an increasing number of researchers have brought together the values of tradition, nostalgia and food. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between food and nostalgia in order to find out in which way they affect each other. Design/methodology/approach – In order to explore the perspectives of traditional food in re-collecting and re-experiencing positive past experiences, both qualitative and quantitative techniques were used in two stages. First, focus group interviews were conducted with ten restaurant chefs in three different regions of Croatia. Then, a survey was carried out with 362 Croatian consumers. Findings – Focus group results show that although traditional food creates new opportunities for differentiation, finding the right ingredients and time for cooking traditional food is still a problem. There is a low interest in traditional food...