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Spices and tourism: destinations,

attractions and cuisines
a
Kelly Virginia Phelan
a
Texas Tech University
Published online: 02 Jan 2015.

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To cite this article: Kelly Virginia Phelan (2015): Spices and tourism: destinations, attractions and
cuisines, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, DOI: 10.1080/14766825.2014.995787

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 Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 2014

BOOK REVIEW

Spices and tourism: destinations, attractions and cuisines, edited by Lee Jolliffe, Bristol,
Channel View Publications, 2014, 209 pp., $49.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-84541-442-9

Spices and tourism: Destinations, attractions and cuisines, edited by Lee Jolliffe, took a
potentially interesting topic and minimized its appeal. The book is organized into three sec-
Downloaded by [Umeå University Library] at 19:25 07 April 2015

tions: destinations, attractions, and products (cuisines), which are influenced by spices.
However, several chapters contain a surface-level discussion of spice tourism, and dedicate
a majority of the writing to unnecessary and unrelated details.
The destination chapters address the island nation of Grenada; Carriacou, which is a
dependency of Grenada, yet offers considerably less than Grenada in terms of spices and
tourism; Hungary, and India. While the Grenada, Hungary, and India case studies are inter-
esting, the chapter on Carriacou appears out of context and a rather pointless contribution.
The authors of the Carriacou chapter themselves state, ‘Carriacou does not enjoy the abun-
dance of spices similar to the mainland [Grenada], and as such does not have as many spice-
related products for tourists to enjoy’ (Tomas & Kline, 2014, p. 35). Based on the chapter,
the only spices in Carriacouan tourism come from Grenada, are used in the food, and are
occasionally seen in the form of ‘spices sold in painted jars’ as souvenirs (Tomas &
Kline, 2014, p. 37). The resident interviews did not address spice tourism at all, and ulti-
mately, the only significant mention of spices in the Carriacou chapter was in the conclusion
when the author admitted ‘Carriacaou does not share the same strong spice history as
Grenada, and as such has found its tourism niche through nature-based tourism … ’
(Tomas & Kline, 2014, p. 50). Given the lack of spice tourism on Carriacou, perhaps
this chapter would have been better placed in a different text.
The chapters on Grenada, Hungary, and India were more worthwhile. The Hungarian
chapter which explained the importance of paprika to national identity was well written
and interesting. The author explained the Paprika Days Festival and the two museums dedi-
cated to paprika in the country which were valid and meaningful contributions. It is unfor-
tunate the same level of detail was not provided in the discussion of India. The chapter on
spice tourism in India’s Goa province was rather pedantic, providing in-depth details about
Goa’s history, geographical location (including longitude and latitude coordinates), average
rainfall, temperature, and population density. If that level of attention had paid to the actual
content about the spice tourism in the region it would have been more appealing to the
reader. In the conclusion, the author discussed the modernization of India, including the
building of supermarkets, malls and fast-food outlets. This was somewhat disjointed as
the author failed to relate modernization back to the topic of spice tourism, leaving the
reader questioning whether spice farms were being dismantled to build malls or if there
was another connection which was overlooked.
The section on spice attractions examined Zanzibar, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. While
each of these chapters were interesting, it would have been advisable to take the conversa-
tion further. The chapters on both Zanzibar and Sri Lanka explained the transformation of

© 2014 Taylor & Francis

 2 Book Review

spice farms from strictly agricultural entities into tourism attractions when production
became less lucrative. The Malaysian chapter detailed an alternate approach: the creation
of a spice garden specifically for tourism purposes. While the spice farms in Zanzibar
and Sri Lanka were production facilities first and became tourism attractions later, the
spice garden in Malaysia was used to host weddings, cooking classes, and other retreats.
While the Zanzibar and Sri Lankan chapters questioned the authenticity of the tourism
experience, the Malaysian spice garden was purpose-built, thus requiring staged authen-
ticity from the start.
Ironically enough, the chapters intended to address spices in cuisine left the most to be
desired, likely because better geographical culinary representations could have been
selected. Australia and Iceland were the two countries used as cases to address cuisine,
neither of which have strong reputations among gastronomic professionals. The section
on Australian nationalism began by discussing the bush tucker brand, but quickly
became a discourse between commercial nationalism, ‘popular nationalism’ and ‘official
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nationalism’. Suffice to say, the explanation that the ‘national anthem, flag and official
symbols are part of official nationalism’ (White, 2014, p. 165) is less than groundbreaking
and seemed unwarranted in a book about spice tourism. The chapter on Iceland was infor-
mational in terms of detailing the historical development of the New Nordic Cuisine but
provided minimal discussion about spices. The extent of spices in Iceland was limited to
the inclusion of herbs in dishes at Restaurant Dill and herbal products sold as souvenirs.
Lee Jollifee’s two final chapters were particularly unsubstantial. One chapter regurgi-
tated application components of cities which were designated as UNESCO Intangible Cul-
tural Heritage Convention Culinary cities or UNESCO cities of gastronomy. Aside from
one table and the word ‘spice’ being strategically placed in a few locations, the chapter
was about cuisine as a whole, with minimal discussion of spices. The concluding chapter
was intended to provide an overview of lessons learned throughout the book and mentioned
the overarching themes: identity, the use of spice as a branding tool, and the diversification
from production to tourism attractions; but could have stood to delve further.
As a whole this book neglected to address some of the most prominent spice tourism
destinations, attractions and cuisines. Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, traditionally known as
the ‘Spice Islands’ and the world’s largest producer of nutmeg, is not a mass tourism desti-
nation, but warrants mention due to its historical and current contribution to the spice trade
(Astuti & Ramos, 2012). While the spice farms and gardens addressed in the book are ade-
quate, there are several world-renowned spice markets which were ignored. Khari Baoli
(Old Delhi, India), the Egyptian Bazaar (Istanbul, Turkey), Mellah Spice Souk (Marrakech,
Morocco) and the Spice Souk in Dubai (UAE) should at the very least have been addressed
in the introductory or concluding chapters as examples of attractions which are heavily
dependent upon tourism for long-term sustainability. It should also be noted that there
was only brief mention of Mexican cuisine, but no other Latin or South American cuisines
were addressed. This is a substantial oversight as many visitors are drawn to these regions
for their famed culinary traditions made possible through the inclusion of spices. Finally, in
Jolliffe’s concluding chapter she includes a quote about the ‘Spice Route Heritage Project’
being part of the UNWTO’s Silk Road Initiative. It was disappointing that this project was
not detailed as it combines spice destinations, attractions and cuisines, thus would have pro-
vided a well-packaged articulation of all three areas addressed in the book and insight into
future plans for further development of the spice tourism sector.
As a whole the book provides a marginal contribution to extant literature as several
important examples of spice tourism were neglected. Some of the case studies provided
were useful; however, the book could have been half the length given the amount of
 Book Review 3

excessive and futile information provided. There were also numerous typographical and
grammatical errors, making the text challenging to read due to the constant distraction
posed by these mistakes.

References
Astuti, Z. B., & Ramos, R. (2012). Ternate-Tidore spice islands: A territory branding process. In
Recent researches in environment, energy systems and sustainability conference (pp. 243–248).
Athens: WSEAS Press.
Tomas, S. R., & Kline, C. (2014). Spice destination case study: Resident perceptions of tourism in
Carriacou. In L. Jolliffe (Ed.), Spices and tourism: Destinations, attraction and cuisines (pp.
33–52). Bristol: Channel View Publications.
White, L. (2014). Australian native spices: Building the ‘Bush Tucker’ brand. In L. Jolliffe (Ed.),
Spices and tourism: Destinations, attraction and cuisines (pp. 153–168). Bristol: Channel
View Publications.
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Kelly Virginia Phelan

Texas Tech University
kelly.phelan@ttu.edu
© 2014, Kelly Virginia Phelan
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14766825.2014.995787