Audience Interpretation of Digital Food Storytelling: Sensory Engagement, Authenticity, and Culinary Place Meaning in the Bolognese Project

Abstract

Digital food storytelling is increasingly used to present gastronomy through documentary and social media formats. Existing research has examined its role in emotional engagement and destination communication. This study focuses on how audiences interpret these narratives and construct meanings of authenticity and place. The paper examines the case of Bolognese, a short documentary and social media project centred on the making of tagliatelle al ragù. The project follows hand-rolled sfoglia, ragù Bolognese, culinary gestures, ingredients, and places connected to Bologna’s food culture. The study uses a qualitative interpretive approach based on YouTube audience comments and two stakeholder interviews. The findings show that audiences interpret digital food storytelling through three connected dimensions. Viewers respond through sensory and emotional engagement, linking images, sounds, gestures, and food preparation to memory and embodied imagination. Authenticity emerges through recognisable markers such as manual practice, continuity, care, and cultural familiarity. These responses contribute to culinary place meaning, as Bologna is understood as a place shaped by food, memory, and lived cultural experience. The study concludes that digital food storytelling works as an interpretive practice in gastronomy and tourism. It shows how audience comments make interpretation visible and how authenticity and place meaning emerge through audience engagement with mediated food narratives.