Culinary diplomacy

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid offering to French

President Emmanuel Macron rose honey in 2017.
Culinary diplomacy, also known as
gastrodiplomacy, is a type of cultural
diplomacy, which itself is a subset of
public diplomacy. Its basic premise is that
"the easiest way to win hearts and minds
is through the stomach".[1] Official
government-sponsored culinary diplomacy
programs have been established in
Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Peru, and
the United States.[2]

Background and definitions

The terms "culinary diplomacy" and
"gastrodiplomacy" have been in use since
the early 2000s, and have been
popularized by the work of public
diplomacy scholars Paul Rockower and
Sam Chapple-Sokol. An early mention of
the concept was in a 2002 Economist
article about the Thai Kitchen of the World
program.[3][4] In a 2011 article published in
the Taiwanese journal Issues & Studies,
Rockower wrote that "Gastrodiplomacy is
predicated on the notion that the easiest
way to win hearts and minds is through
the stomach."[1] Chapple-Sokol wrote in a
2013 article in the journal The Hague
Journal of Diplomacy that culinary
diplomacy is "the use of food and cuisine
as an instrument to create cross-cultural
understanding in the hopes of improving
interactions and cooperation."[2]

Culinary diplomacy versus

gastrodiplomacy
The two terms "culinary diplomacy" and
"gastrodiplomacy" are used
interchangeably by many, though some
scholars have differentiated the terms.
Rockower, for example, claims that
gastrodiplomacy refers to a tool of public
diplomacy, while culinary diplomacy
serves as "a means to further diplomatic
protocol through cuisine".[5] Chapple-Sokol
writes that both of these fall under the
broad categorization of "culinary
diplomacy", and differentiates between
public and private culinary diplomacy.[2]
The former refers to culinary diplomacy
being used as a tool of public diplomacy,
and more specifically cultural diplomacy,
while the latter "occurs behind closed
doors", akin to Rockower's definition.

Examples
Thailand

The "Global Thai" program, launched in

2002, was a government-led culinary
diplomacy initiative. It aimed to boost the
number of Thai restaurants worldwide to
8,000 by 2003 from about 5,500
previously.[4] By 2011, that number had
increased to more than 10,000 Thai
restaurants worldwide.[6]

The program was explained in Thailand:

Kitchen of the World, an eBook published
to promote the program. The point of the
e-book: "In the view of the Export
Promotion Department, Thai restaurants
have a good business potential that can be
developed to maintain a high level of
international recognition. To achieve that
goal, the department is carrying out a
public relations campaign to build up a
good image of the country through Thai
restaurants worldwide."[3]:Chapter 7

The Department of Export Promotion of

the Thai Ministry of Commerce offers
potential restaurateurs plans for three
different "master restaurant" types—from
fast food to elegant—which investors can
choose as a prefabricated restaurant
plan.[7][8] Concomitantly, the Export-Import
Bank of Thailand offered loans to Thai
nationals aiming to open restaurants
abroad, and the Small and Medium
Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand
set up an infrastructure for loans of up to
US$3 million for overseas food industry
initiatives, including Thai restaurants.[8]

South Korea
South Korea launched its own culinary
diplomacy program in 2009, a $77m
investment entitled "Korean Cuisine to the
World or "Global Hansik".[9] The goals of
the program, run by the Ministry of Food,
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, are to
promote the unique nature and health
qualities of Korean cuisine (hansik), as
well as to increase the number of Korean
restaurants worldwide to 40,000 by
2017.[10] Projects undertaken by the
Korean government include the opening of
a kimchi institute, working to establish
Korean cuisine as a course in
internationally recognized cooking
schools, and the launch of a touring
Korean food truck.[9]

Malaysia

Since 2010 Malaysia has undertaken a

similar project by running the "Malaysia
Kitchen" Programme.[11] The programme,
carried out by the Malaysia External Trade
Development Corporation, has focused
most of its efforts to promote Malaysian
cuisine in Australia, United States and
United Kingdom.[5] Malaysia is an
especially appropriate country to conduct
culinary diplomacy due to its history as a
culinary crossroads and its current mix of
Malay, Chinese, and Indian populations.
The approach, which has employed
celebrity chefs such as Rick Stein and
Norman Musa in the UK, has had
significant impact in increasing awareness
of Malaysian cuisine and Malaysian
restaurants[12] through product
promotions and cooking demonstrations
at supermarkets, food festivals and an
annual night market at Trafalgar Square,
London.[13]

Peru

An official Peruvian culinary diplomacy

program started in 2011, with Peru's
application for its cuisine to be included in
UNESCO's list of intangible cultural
heritage, the first year food heritage was
recognized.[14] Peruvian cuisine was
denied the status of food heritage in its
initial application.[15] The Cocina Peruana
Para El Mundo campaign has also been
promoted by Peruvian chef Gaston Acurio,
the owner of multiple restaurants
worldwide as well as a co-creator of the
documentary Perú Sabe, along with
Spanish chef Ferran Adrià.[16]
The United States

In September 2012, the United States

officially launched its Culinary Diplomacy
Partnership Initiative.[17] More than 80
chefs, including White House Executive
Chef Cristeta Comerford, former White
House Executive Pastry Chef William
Yosses, and Spanish-born chef José
Andrés, were named to be members of the
"American Chef Corps." The initiative is
organized by the United States State
Department Office of Protocol. One goal of
the program is to send members of the
Chef Corps to American embassies
abroad on public diplomacy missions to
teach about American cuisine.

Selected List of American Chef Corps

José Andrés, executive chef and owner

of minibar, Jaleo, Oyamel, Zaytinia,
China Poblano, é, Micasa, and America
Eats Tavern
Dan Barber, executive chef and co-
owner of Blue Hill Restaurant and Blue
Hill at Stone Barns
Rick Bayless, owner of Frontera Grill and
star of PBS series Mexico: One Plate at
a Time
April Bloomfield, Chef at The Spotted
Pig and The Breslin, and owner of two
Michelin stars
Cristeta Comerford, White House
Executive Chef
Duff Goldman, Executive chef of
Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes
 Roland Mesnier, former White House
Executive Pastry Chef
Marcus Samuelsson, Chef and owner of
Red Rooster in Harlem, New York City
Walter Scheib, former White House
Executive Chef
Ming Tsai, Chef at Blue Ginger and
television personality
Bill Yosses, former White House
Executive Pastry Chef

The Club des Chefs des Chefs

At the summit of culinary diplomacy is Le
Club des Chefs des Chefs,[18] or the
Leaders' Chefs' Club. Created in 1977 by
Gilles Bragard, former CEO of Bragard
Uniforms, the club annually brings
together more than 25 chefs of heads of
state to meet and discuss their work.
Current club members include Executive
Chef Cristeta Comerford from The White
House, Chef Bernard Vaussion, formerly of
the Élysée Palace, Chef Mark Flanagan,
Chef to Her Majesty the Queen of the
United Kingdom, and Chef Machindra
Kasture, Chef to the Indian President.

The 2013 meeting of the club was hosted

by White House Chef Cristeta Comerford
and took place in New York City and
Washington, DC.[19] The chefs met with
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-
Moon as well as United States President
Barack Obama.

The 2014 meeting of the club was hosted

by Buckingham Palace chef Mark
Flanagan, where the group met Queen
Elizabeth II.[20]

The 2015 meeting of the club took place in

Switzerland and Italy, where the club
visited Expo 2015 in Milan.[21]

References
1. Rockower, Paul S. "Projecting Taiwan:
Taiwan's Public Diplomacy Outreach."
Issues & Studies 47, no. 1 (March
2011): 107-152.
2. Chapple-Sokol, Samuel. "Culinary
Diplomacy: Breaking Bread to Win
Hearts and Minds." The Hague
Journal of Diplomacy Volume 8, Issue
2 (2013): 161-183.
3. Thailand: Kitchen of the World .
Bangkok: The Government Public
Relations Department (Thailand)
(PRD). n.d. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
4. "Thailand's gastro-diplomacy" . The
Economist. 2002-02-21. Retrieved
16 August 2018.
5. Rockower, Paul S. "Recipes for
Gastrodiplomacy." Place Branding and
Public Diplomacy Volume 8 (2012):
235-346.
6. "Developing Chefs for Thai Cuisine
Who Will Promote Thai Food
Standards Overseas" . The
Government Public Relations
Department (PRD) (Thailand). 2011-
03-21. Archived from the original
(Press release) on 2013-09-26.
Retrieved 16 August 2018.
7. "Thai Select" . Thai Select. 2013-02-15.
Retrieved 16 August 2018.
8. Karp, Myles (2018-03-29). "The
Surprising Reason that There Are So
Many Thai Restaurants in America" .
Vice. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
9. Pham, Mary Jo A. "Food as
Communication: A Case Study of
South Korea's Gastrodiplomacy."
Journal of International Service
Volume 22, Number 1 (Spring 2013): 1-
22.
10. "Global Hansik off to strong start" The
Korea Times
11. "'Malaysia Kitchen for the World 2010'
Campaign Launched to Promote
Malaysian Restaurants and Cuisine in
the New York Metro Area"
PRNewswire
12. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved
2013-11-23.
13. "Thousands drawn to Trafalgar Square
for a taste of Malaysia" . 2013-10-05.
14. Wilson, Rachel. "Cocina Peruana Para
El Mundo: Gastrodiplomacy, the
Culinary Nation Brand, and the Context
of National Cuisine in Peru." Archived
2014-04-23 at the Wayback Machine
15. Matta, Raúl (2016-08-01). "Food
incursions into global heritage:
Peruvian cuisine's slippery road to
UNESCO". Social Anthropology (in
French). 24 (3): 338–352.
doi:10.1111/1469-8676.12300 .
ISSN 1469-8676 .
16. Inicio > The Documentary. "The
Documentary" . Peru Sabe. Archived
from the original on 2012-10-13.
Retrieved 2013-07-02.
17. U.S. Department of State to Launch
Diplomatic Culinary Partnership
18. "Le Club des Chefs des Chefs -
Accueil" . Club-des-chefs-des-
chefs.com. 2012-06-25. Retrieved
2013-07-02.
19. "Le Club des Chefs des Chefs - Le
rendez-vous annuel" . Club-des-chefs-
 des-chefs.com. Archived from the
original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved
2013-10-02.
20. "Le Club des Chefs des Chefs - Past
Events" . Club-des-chefs-des-
chefs.com. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
21. "Le Club des Chefs des Chefs -
News" . Club-des-chefs-des-
chefs.com. Retrieved 2015-09-02.

Look up gastrodiplomacy in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Culinary_diplomacy&oldid=918380386"

Last edited 1 month ago by Monkbot

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.