Culinary Diplomacy (Dictionary)
Culinary diplomacy is defined as “the use of food as an instrument to create a cross-cultural understanding in the hopes of improving interactions and cooperation.” Culinary diplomacy can be divided into public and private culinary diplomacy. Public diplomacy takes place at governmental level, as done in the White House when international guests are welcomed, or in Thailand’s “Global Thai” initiative. Private culinary diplomacy, on the other hand, refers to State Dinners and other forms of hosting, and gives a chance for influential leaders to see eye to eye after sharing the typical cuisine of a country. It may seem trivial, but the effects of private culinary diplomacy do have meaningful repercussions to world politics.
