Trabajo Fin De Grado
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Facultad de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales Grado en Relaciones Internacionales Trabajo Fin de Grado POLITICAL COOKS OR COOKING POLITICIANS Spain’s golden chance for gastrodiplomacy Ángel de Martín Maurer 5º E5 Tutor: Prof. Dr. Ariel James Trapero Madrid June, 2019 INDEX I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 4 II. PURPOSES AND AIMS ................................................................................................................... 6 III. RESEARCH QUESTION ................................................................................................................. 7 IV. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 8 V. CURRENT STATUS ......................................................................................................................... 9 1. PAUL ROCKOWER ......................................................................................................................... 10 2. SAM CHAPPLE-SOKOL .................................................................................................................. 11 3. A FIELD DEVELOPED ALONGSIDE CASE STUDIES ........................................................................ 13 VI. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................. 14 1. GASTRONOMY ............................................................................................................................... 14 2. CULTURAL DIMENSION ................................................................................................................. 16 a) Fire beings and the cooking hypothesis .................................................................................. 16 b) Food as a language impacting in the conformation of civilisations ...................................... 18 3. POLITICAL DIMENSION ................................................................................................................. 20 a) Diplomacy, public diplomacy, soft power ................................................................................ 20 i. Diplomacy and public diplomacy ..................................................................................................... 20 ii. Soft power ........................................................................................................................................... 22 b) Food as a political reality and practice ................................................................................... 22 c) Politic deliberation and foods within the public imaginary .................................................... 25 i. The French (Gastro)Revolution ........................................................................................................ 25 4. PHILOSOPHICAL DIMENSION ........................................................................................................ 27 a) Food as a pleasure ................................................................................................................... 27 b) Belief food – religious dietary laws and fasting ...................................................................... 28 VII. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSION .................................................................................................. 29 CASE STUDY 1: ISRAEL ....................................................................................................................... 29 1. ISRAEL – THE FORCE OF ICONS AND SENTIMENT TO ASSEMBLE A NATION´S IDENTITY FROM SCRATCH ................................................................................................................................................ 29 a) Falafel, a typical Arab meal switched to Israel´s food landmark ........................................... 31 b) The Jewish Dietary Law........................................................................................................... 34 CASE STUDY 2: PERU ........................................................................................................................... 35 2. PERU – A MODERN CULINARY TRACING CENTURIES ON THEIR ANCESTOR’S HERITAGE ........... 35 a) Governmental gastrodiplomacy ............................................................................................... 37 b) The role of non-state actors ..................................................................................................... 38 c) The gastronomic legacy of Peru: the epitome of fusion cuisine ............................................. 42 i. Pre-Columbian sacred cuisine .......................................................................................................... 42 ii. Cultural influences in their gastronomy .......................................................................................... 44 d) Outcomes of Peruvian gastrodiplomacy .................................................................................. 46 CASE STUDY 3: SPAIN.......................................................................................................................... 49 3. SPAIN – A COUNTRY SEEKING MULTILATERALISM THROUGH THE USE OF FOOD-BASED DIPLOMACY ........................................................................................................................................... 49 a) Governmental gastrodiplomacy ............................................................................................... 49 i. Overview of Spanish diplomacy ........................................................................................................ 49 ii. Spain´s actual position as a soft power ............................................................................................. 51 iii. Culinary diplomacy initiatives: the importance of public-private strategies ................................ 53 b) The role of non-state actors ..................................................................................................... 56 i. Spanish chefs ...................................................................................................................................... 56 ii. Other non-state actors ....................................................................................................................... 61 iii. Initiatives ............................................................................................................................................ 62 c) The gastronomic legacy of Spain............................................................................................. 64 i. Spanish aliments: history of food in Iberia ...................................................................................... 64 2 VIII. CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS ......................................................................................... 66 II. GASTRODIPLOMACY FOR THE FUTURE ........................................................................................ 66 a. Food as an asset to enhance tourism ....................................................................................... 66 b. The need for a Spanish proposal ............................................................................................. 67 c. Reflection of Spanish Diplomats ............................................................................................. 68 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 72 3 I. INTRODUCTION The aim of this research is to determine the scope of gastronomy, which enroots to the own origin of the human being, and the sway of its practice as a powerful instrument to promote the image of nations abroad. Food is a political routine in decision-making processes such as institutional diplomacy, as our history has defined itself because of the gathering of those powerful ones among a table. We may encounter major milestones that signified a change of paradigm, being varied in their myriad, from the Last Supper, perhaps the most decisive event attached to a meal, to the Berlin Conference and the political implications that derived for the configuration of Africa and Asia and further determined the succession of events that would lead the outbreak of the two world wars. The French Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, considered the first gastronomist author with his famous Physiologie du gout (The Physiology of Taste), published in 1825, affirmed that “Gastronomy rules all life, for the tears of the infant cry for the bosom of the nurse; the dying man receives with some degree of pleasure the last cooling drink, which, alas! he is unable to digest” (Brillat-Savarin, 2014). Extending Brillat-Savarin’s definition, we will recognise that gastronomy rules all international life, hence international politics. Every single being needs to get fed, be it with water, nutrients or flesh. Food is entwined within the existence of our mother Earth, as it comprises a part of life. Therefore, all of us, as creatures, share an experience through alimentation. As we study in schools, living things (plants and animals) born, grow, reproduce and die. Food is, in its grounds, the basic form of sustenance, the element needed to survive. As defined by social geographers Gill Valentine and David Bell, food “occupies an unrivalled centrality in all