'Istrian Plate': Nutritional Identity of Istrians

Tradicionalna hrana, te određene prigode za koju se priprema, postale su neizostavni dio istarske povijesti i tradicije. Kroz kulturu prehrane određenog društva, formira se i identitet pojedinca, te je stoga istarska kuhinja važno obilježje istarskog identiteta, ono na temelju kojeg se Istra (samo)reprezentira. Ovisno o području gdje živimo i na koji se način hranimo, naše emocije uz određene namirnice bi bile drugačije, stoga se blisko identificiramo s namirnicama i jelima koja su karakteristična za sredinu u kojoj odrastamo. Moderne inovacije unijele su izmjene u neke specifične načine pripreme jela, te su se zbog toga neka tradicionalna obilježja istarske kuhinje počela gubiti. U radu je istražen istarski prehrambeni identitet kroz analizu namirnica koje Istrijani prepoznaju kao ključne za svoje podneblje, zatim kroz analizu njihove uporabe odnosno tradicionalnih procesa pripreme hrane, te potom kroz komparaciju priča o tradicionalnoj pripremi hrane s pričama o pripremi hrane danas. Ovo je istraživanje provedeno kako bi, iz perspektive samih Istrijana i Istrijanki, saznali kako je korištenje određenih namirnica i tradicionalan proces njihove pripreme zrcalio društvene odnose i socioekonomski status obitelji. Rad se temelji na intervjuima sa šesnaest ispitanika, od kojih je njih osam starije dobi, a drugih osam mlađe dobi, kroz koje će biti uočljivi obrasci promjena.
Traditional food, prepared for certain occasions has become an indispensable part of Istrian history and tradition. The identity of an individual is being formed through the food culture of certain society, and because of that, the cuisine of Istra is very important characteristic of Istrian identity, through which Istria also (self)represents. Depending on the area in which we live and the way we use food, our emotions with certain food are different, so we identify closely with the food that is characteristic for the environment in which we grew up. Modern innovations brought some changes in the specific ways of preparation of meals, which has led to the fact that some of the traditional characteristics of Istrian cuisine began to loos. This paper investigates the istrian food identity through analyse of specific food that Istrians recognize as the key for its area of living, then through analyse of their use, specifically traditional proceses of its preparation, and in the end through comparation od stories about traditional preparation of meals with stories about the preparation of food today. This research has been conducted to find out, using the perspective of old and yound Istrian people, how was food and its traditional way of preparing it, showing the social relations and socio-economic status of the family. The paper is based on interviews with sixteen respondents, eight of them older, and the other eight younger age, whose answers will show the patterns of change.