The (re)making of Georgianness: culinary glocalisation, migration and authenticity in Georgian restaurants in Kraków

Abstract

In recent years, Georgian restaurants have become a notable feature of Poland’s urban foodscape, despite the absence of strong historical, colonial or large-scale migratory ties between Georgia and Poland. This dissertation explores how and why Georgian cuisine is travelling and transforming in the Polish context, focusing on the proliferation of Georgian-themed eateries and their possible roles as sites of cultural negotiation, belonging, adaptation and performance. The study draws on data gathered through several qualitative fieldwork methods, including interviews with Georgian and non-Georgian restaurant owners, Google Maps restaurant reviews and participant observation, using thematic analysis as the primary analytical method, to uncover how cuisines travel and how ‘Georgianness’ is (re)constructed and performed in another context. Using Kraków as the case study, this research contributes to broader discussions in transnational migration and culinary mobilisation and hybridity, offering insights into how cuisine becomes a travelling form of ethnic identity, oftentimes adapting and evolving to its glocal context.