Gastronomy as Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Function of Rural Tourism Development

Gastronomy is the art and science of fine eating, which is in the main focus of today’s human life, culture, tradition, and customs. Nutrition is as old as life itself and it is something that keeps us alive. Gastronomy as a science has an important function in rural tourism development because nutrition has a central place in the tourist experience. The number of tourist trips in the rural environments is increasing more and more, where the food itself, prepared and served in a traditional way, is becoming the main motivating factor for traveling. Religious holidays, traditional weddings, tourist manifestations are quite alluring for tourists because the food takes a cult place in these events (Metodijeski, 2012). The offer by ethno restaurants in rural areas, that are decorated in ethno style and are categorized as national restaurants, is increasing as well. In those restaurants, the visitors can see all the household items that are made of metal, wood and clay, which had been used by our ancestors for preparing and preserving food. They can also see some handmade items, made by the diligent hosts, such as mile, tapestry...When choosing short-stay destinations, a preference is always given to the rural farms, rural tourism, mountain tourism where the tourists would enjoy their choice of destination.