Deep-lomacy #15

Gastrodiplomacy - An International and Israeli Perspective / Udi Goldschmidt

Soft diplomacy is considered as building relationships between people - and not just between states - by creating social intimacy. Among the common ways to do this are exhibition exchanges between museums; visits of cultural delegations between countries; hosting famous orchestras or singers; and another focus in recent years has been on gastronomy. Most ambassadors hold a private chef in their home, from their country of origin, for hosting purposes. Heads of state on official visits are invited to dine around the hosting Head of State’s table. In addition, giant dinners are held to honour the seniors among them, with the political and social elite’s participation. Hosting around the dining table is considered informal, encourages the diners to get to know each other and helps break the ice in political relations. Hosting with food is an old cultural by-product that has been with us for ages (as evident from the story of our father Abraham and the angels in the tent).

Soft diplomacy is directed toward the emotion of the target population rather than the authorities. Since nowadays information can be easily obtained online - the experience of familiarity with another place mainly involves getting to know the people and the culture. Culinary arts was recognized in recent years as the sixth art (after architecture, painting, sculpture, dance and music). Food culture or culinary arts have invaded our lives in the last twenty years and filled up all of our space and time. The kitchen has wandered from its minimalistic place in the back of the house to the hosting forefront. Cookbooks comprise about a quarter of sales in bookstores. Food, cooking, raw ingredients, and recipes are some of the most searched topics, while food photography is a dominant element in social media networks. The traditional media also advances the culinary field through food writers and critics. Special magazines are frequently issued on culinary subjects and the cooking shows on television are starring on prime time. In parallel, there is a rise in the public interest to deeply understand the cultural relationship of food to its place of origin, as well as its culinary, local and seasonal authenticity. All these have become terms that have advanced the kitchen from the periphery to center stage: “from the farm to the table”. The rising interest in food reopens the gate to the diplomacy of food and culture in a worldwide distribution - hence: gastro-diplomacy.

The international culinary spirit is spreading all over the world, not least due to the waves of economic migration in the last seventy years. Economic migrants, for the most part, were poor - and brought simple, folk cuisines with them. As the culture of the migrating community increasingly included meals in the public space - they became exposed to the neighboring communities. The Chinese, who are culturally accustomed to eating street food - turned the migrant “ghetto” into a culinary hub and became leaders in the internationalization of the American cuisine. The Italians followed with pizzas and pastas, then the Mexicans with tacos, along with many other nations who colored the American kitchen in general and the big cities in particular, creating a diverse culinary culture.

The trend became common domain and not just that of the migrating communities. In this way, the culinary trend that developed from the mid-90s caused the government of Thailand to come out with a culinary-centered campaign focused, whose goal was to rebrand the state image, in order to encourage tourism. In 2002 the Thailand tourism ministry came out with a program to encourage the opening of Thai restaurants in the western world. Unlike the Chinese, the Italians or the Mexicans - there were no Thai migrant communities in the western world. The Thai government believed in the uniqueness of its national cuisine and took advantage of the growing openness to asian cuisines. The Thai government through the program “International Thailand” promised training, accessibility to raw ingredients and assistance with obtaining work visas for guest chefs, in exchange for authentic exposure of the Thai kitchen. The results were immediate - and far beyond expectation. The number of Thai restaurants leapt from 5,000 to 20,000, and in parallel tourism skyrocketed from one million to ten million per year until 2008.

The original model for national branding around food surprised even those who invited the campaign and immediately resulted in many imitations - the Asian cuisines of Korea and Taiwan and even Portugal and Peru. The wave that crossed national boundaries and into districts such as Ontario and cities like Portland, Oregon - began with culinary branding. It was the golden age of the international food trend, which continues to be a leading trend, though its growth has stopped.

Why, then, should I return to the subject at this point in time? Because tourism, despite the vaccination, will struggle to regain its previous dimensions. Countries are in need of exposure to preserve their image in the world; an image that was largely built on the open channels of tourism. Without tourism capacities, how can a country’s image in the world be preserved? From my personal perspective, the answer is simple - food! Israel’s relationship to the Jewish world, the European communities and the United States, whose support is vital to Israel’s political resilience; relationships with the diplomatic community in Israel and abroad - through cultural initiatives revolving around food: cooking workshops on special foods, exposure of Israeli restaurants which are so successful in Europe and North America, or sending chefs on journeys to cook and lecture in the Diaspora.

In recent years the Israeli cuisine has been revitalized abroad, largely owing to a few daring individuals who took on considerable financial risks, but no less due to the branding, characterized in part by Mediterranean freshness, influence of the migrant cuisine, Jewish holidays and kashrut, and mostly chutzpa, boldness and state of mind. As a result, Israeli restaurants have gained recognition in the James Beard competitions (the Oscars of gastronomy), and recently even Michelin stars. The Israeli and foreign media have highlighted the Israeli success in admiration. Practically every Israeli television chef has opened restaurants abroad, promoting the “new Israeli cuisine”. In my opinion, even if late, now is the time to invite the various government offices and all the other entities who serve as representatives and ambassadors abroad to use this powerful lever called culinary arts, in order to continue branding Israeli activities and its culinary culture.