Culinary Crossroads: Exploring the Intersection of Food, Culture, and Diplomacy

Watch Culinary Crossroads

Every region, country, city, and village on this planet has a unique culinary legacy—dishes that capture histories of ingenuity, evolution, adaptation, and migration. These cultural fingerprints are shaped by the experiences and encounters of each generation, providing a space for human connection and mutual understanding.

During the fourth annual Culturefix Morning Conversations, Meridian convened culinary thought leaders Aba Kwawu (TAA PR), Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle (Embassy of Monaco to the United States and Canada) and Rose Previte (Compass Rose and Maydãn) to discuss culinary arts and diplomacy as a vehicle to celebrate culture, identity, and history.

Here are some key takeaways from the panel: 

1. Home is Where the Food Is 

For many, their relationship with cuisine does not begin at the chef’s table—it begins at home. So, what if the culinary arts looked to the home as a key part of a chef’s professional journey? Before opening Maydãn, Compass Rose restaurant owner Rose Previte traveled with her team across Morocco, Tunisia, western Georgia, Lebanon, and Turkey, immersing themselves in local culture by dining in the homes of grandmothers and learning to cook traditional dishes directly from them. The people they met and the stories they shared around food became central to the development of the restaurant down to its design, allowing guests to step away from the table with an enriching cultural experience beyond the plate.

 

2. “The Only Way to Teach Them Who We Are is By Feeding Them” 

Immigrant communities are tremendous driving forces for the development of unique culinary landscapes. In cities across the United States, both large and small, immigrant populations serve as cultural ambassadors, sharing culinary traditions. This food provides others with a glimpse into their culture, preserving histories for future generations removed from their countries of origin.

 

3. Food as Language 

Flavors and aromas can convey history and values through a unique sensory experience. This language of identity through immersion reaches beyond the home and local restaurants to the state level, fostering connection, camaraderie, and crucial discourse through home and foreign culinary traditions.

 

4. Eating Green 

Beyond mutual understanding, cuisine intrinsically relates to a country’s economic and agricultural welfare. With increased attention to global issues such as climate change, sustainability, and food security, culinary diplomacy provides opportunities for cross-cultural dialogue around climate politics and human rights. From farm to table, stakeholders are called to interrogate their practices by sourcing locally and reducing their carbon footprint. Some restaurants, such as Elsa, the first all-organic restaurant to receive a Michelin star, have responded by simplifying their ingredients through networks of small organic farmers.

 

5. The G20 of Gastronomy 

With the careers of culinary legends such as Julia Child, the rise of television channels such as Food Network, and more technical developments such as Escoffier’s brigade system, the field of global cuisine and the influence of chefs has taken shape alongside the economic growth of countries worldwide. The district of Monte Carlo, which Her Excellency Maguy Maccario Doyle described as a “hill with sheep and olive trees” at the turn of the twentieth century, now serves as a culinary powerhouse with 11 Michelin star chefs in 6 restaurants in a span of 1-square mile. Monaco continues to harness the power of culinary diplomacy through its participation in the Club des Chefs des Chefs, an association of executive chefs of the head of the state.