Culinary Practices in Nove Fuzine: FOOD AND PROCESSES OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE IN A SLOVENIAN MULTIETHNIC NEIGHBORHOOD

摘要

In the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana, the suburb of Nove Fuzine hosts the highest proportion of first and second-generation immigrants from the other former Yugoslav socialist republics. While this makes it a privileged signifier of "Balkanness," itis also a place around which many negative stereotypes are constructed. This paper describes a survey that was conducted to discern cultural differences between the biggest three ethnic groups in the neighborhood (Slovenians, Serbs and Bosniaks), takingtheir culinary habits and choices as an indicator of more general cultural references. The results show that while there are very few major differences between the ethnic communities in Nove Fuzine, the social distance between them remains substantial. Indeed, forms of cultural exchange in this multi-ethnic suburb are almost completely absent, at least in as much as they can be inferred from eating habits. In several instances, immigrants from other former Yugoslav republics reported including various typically Slovenian dishes on their menus and vice versa, but this was for practical reasons rather than any cultural exchanges within their neighborhood.