Patrimonio culinario mexicano y banalización cultural: análisis de restaurantes en Barcelona

Oleg Lazovski; Gaspar Berbel; Rafael Paramo

doi:10.25145/j.pasos.2027.25.002

Authors

Oleg Lazovski Ostelea - Grupo Planeta https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1702-5258
Gaspar Berbel https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9042-2922
Rafael Paramo https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4550-9390

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2027.25.002

Keywords:

Mexican culinary heritage, Cultural trivialisation, Gastronomic authenticity, Mixed-methods design, Barcelona

Abstract

Mexican cuisine, recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, constitutes a living and territorially diverse culinary system that faces risks of trivialisation when projected internationally. This article analyses the extent to which the offering of Mexican restaurants in Barcelona acts as an authentic cultural ambassador or instead reproduces processes of culinary cultural trivialisation. A sequential mixed-methods design was applied in two phases: analysis of menus from 79 Mexican restaurants in Barcelona, and expert judgement through a modified focus group with ten professionals specialised in Mexican gastronomy. The quantitative phase describes the presence of heritage dishes, beverages and desserts, whilst the qualitative phase establishes their relative importance according to criteria of authenticity and representativeness. The findings reveal a marked misalignment between the available offering and the preparations considered most significant by the experts, as well as a tendency to favour standardised options over dishes with greater heritage density. It is concluded that the analysed offering prioritises commercial adaptation over cultural integrity, generating a systematic gap between menu presence and heritage importance, and highlighting tensions between economic promotion, gastronomic authenticity and the preservation of Mexican culinary heritage in urban tourism contexts.

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Academic society: PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural
Publisher: Instituto Universitario de Investigación Social y Turismo. Universidad de La Laguna (España) - Instituto Universitario da Maia ISMAI (Portugal)

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