gastrodiplomacy

A geisha pouring a drink for a guest at a Western-style banquet in Kyoto, Japan

gastro- (“of or relating to cooking”) +‎ diplomacy.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɡæstɹəʊdɪˈpləʊməsi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɡæstɹoʊdɪˈploʊməsi/
• Hyphenation: gas‧tro‧di‧plom‧a‧cy

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gastrodiplomacy (uncountable)

1. A type of cultural diplomacy where relations between representatives of different cultures are improved by the means of gastronomy and the promotion of national cuisines.

   Synonym: culinary diplomacy

   • 1981, “The Star: Gastro-diplomacy”, in South African Digest: Fortnightly Digest of South African Affairs, Pretoria: Department of Information, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 20, column 3:

     Gastro-diplomacy [title] "P W who …?" Mr William Clark is reputed to have said when he was being quizzed for the job of American Assistant Secretary of State. Well, whatever political reminders he might now have, he will never forget our prime minister [P. W. Botha] after being given so memorable a dish as biltong souffle for breakfast yesterday, backed up by straight biltong and maroela jelly.

   • 2008, Robert Goodwin, Crossing the Continent 1527–1540: The Story of the First African-American Explorer of the American South, New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, →ISBN; 1st Harper paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper, 2009, →ISBN, page 44:

     Emperor; King of all Spain, of Castile, of Aragon, and of Granada; ruler of half Italy; heir to the Burgundian tradition of courtly chivalry; the Prince of Christendom who, in his gastro-diplomacy of public overeating and prodigious drinking, […]

   • 2012, “Food Diplomacy Next Front for South’s Countries”, in Cosmas Gitta, editor, Southern Innovator: A Magazine Celebrating South-South Innovation, number 3, New York, N.Y.: Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, United Nations Development Programme, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11:

     The phenomenon of modern "gastrodiplomacy" got its start in Thailand. Thai cooking and restaurants had been on the rise around the world since the 1980s. But in 2002, the Government of Thailand decided to use these kitchens and restaurants as new cultural outposts to promote brand Thailand and encourage tourism and business investment. […] One example of how gastrodiplomacy can work on the ground is the Kogi Taco Truck, which serves up Korean-Mexican fusion food in Los Angeles, California.

   • 2016, Atsuko Ichijo, Ronald Ranta, “National Food in the International Context”, in Food, National Identity and Nationalism: From Everyday to Global Politics, Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, part II (Official/Top Down: The Nation-state, Food and Nationalism), page 116:

     It is important to note at this stage that the supposed success of the 'Global Thai' initiative and the Taiwanese case has motivated many other governments to go down the gastrodiplomacy route, and not all of them are Asian. For example, Peru has been one of the more recent converts to gastrodiplomacy.

   • 2017, Juyan Zhang, “Towards Increased Diversification and Sophistication: Trends and Issues in China’s Public Diplomacy”, in Jia Gao, Catherine Ingram, Pookong Kee, editors, Global Media and Public Diplomacy in Sino-Western Relations (Rethinking Asia and International Relations), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 39:

     In gastrodiplomacy, nations use food as part of their efforts to promote their cultures, build their images, globalise their food industries, attract foreign tourists and build relations with citizens of foreign countries […]. Employers of gastrodiplomacy may include food corporations, celebrity chefs, tourist agencies, public relations firms, public diplomacy practitioners, television cooking shows and social media networks.

• gastro-diplomacy

• culinary diplomacy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia