Chef Ivan Ivačič’s Contribution to Culinary Modernization in the 1960s Yugoslavia (Slovenia) through TV Cooking Shows

Abstract

This paper focuses on the television chef Ivan Ivačič’s contribution to Yugoslav (Slovene) socialist foodways, specifically their modernisation, through his 1960s TV cooking shows. It examines the ways in which Ivačič’s cooking shows contributed to the changing food practices in Slovenia, and thus to the general detraditionalisation of cooking practices – including gender roles – and the introduction of new cooking ingredients and techniques. In the context of Yugoslav socialism, it shows television’s role in supporting the secular agenda of the state through food, while at the same time following nutritionist advice of the time and also offering suggestions for meals that contain more meat and less fat.