UK envoy's food diplomacy

Fauziah Ismail, New Straits Times, 22 July 2018

Image from article, with caption: Vicki Treadell (right) cooking chicken ‘rendang’ with ‘MasterChef UK 2018’ contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin at the latter’s home in Kuantan recently.

VICKI Treadell does not play golf. So, there is little chance that you will find the British high commissioner to Malaysia engaging in golf diplomacy. But she is big in a different form of diplomacy, which involves food.

“To me, food is an important tool for diplomacy and the art of it is what I call gastro diplomacy,” she said while cooking chicken rendang at the home of MasterChef UK 2018 contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin in Kuantan, Pahang, recently.

“The kitchen of an ambassador or a high commissioner’s residence is an important tool of the trade. “Because the meals you serve, the engagements that you have, (and) the conversations at the dining table are part of how you develop and nurture relationships.

“What you put in front of people, the care and attention that you put into it, how it is cooked and presented, and most important, that people enjoy it, create ambience, warmth and connection.”

Gastro diplomacy is one of the more exciting trends in public diplomacy [JB emphasis] outreach. It is based on the notion that “the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach”. It seeks to create a tangible, emotional and transnational connection.

“I think all these are important because diplomacy is about relationships — how you build trust, how you engender warmth and even how you disagree.

“You need to be professional and respect differences, find common ground and consensus to work together and to deliver. “I think food is a great way to achieve that.

“When food is a tool for diplomacy, we have to use it in a considered and careful way.”

Treadell is such a firm believer in gastro diplomacy that she is writing a book about it, basing it on her own experiences during her oversea postings.

“The book is about diplomacy, about events that I was involved in.

“It is me sharing my ideas on how to make gastro diplomacy work.”

She cited the gala dinner she hosted during the visit of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall to Malaysia in November as one of the highlights of gastro diplomacy.

She and the kitchen team had created a menu that was “typically British, yet with an infusion of Malay-sian elements” for 550 guests.

“The meal spoke about the United Kingdom–Malaysia relations.

“The food was a fusion of British and Malaysian influences.”

She said the starter was hot-smoked salmon from Scotland, flown in for the occasion. Instead of serving it with salad garnishes, the chef replaced it with Sarawak ferns (Midin).

The main course was the classic British dish, Beef Wellington, but it was presented as Beef Rendang Wellington instead.

“Apart from the fillet steak, we used rendang sauce to flavour the Beef Wellington.

“It was garnished with a swirl of rendang sauce and vegetables.”

For dessert, the classic British Trifle consisted of rambutan, mango and papaya instead of strawberries, raspberries and British berries.

She said she hoped the dishes spoke of the connection between the two countries. “Breaking bread, (we were) celebrating the royal visit of the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, but also 60 years of Malaysia’s nationhood and our bilateral relationship since independence.