Preview: Culinary Diplomacy

Food is a potent signifier of the third wave of globalisation, where individuals are creating their own patchwork identities and food can act as a cultural repository.

The Sambal Exchange Project in Singapore aims to use the ubiquitous condiment as a way to connect different cultures. In San Francisco, the Museum of Modern Art’s (SFMOMA) In Situ restaurant turns food into an experiment of cultural intimacy. Its menu comprises dishes from more than 80 high-profile chefs including René Redzepi of Noma, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and Hajime Yoneda of HAJIME.

Rather than just mimicking the dishes, chef Cory Lee worked closely with the originating chefs to capture their inspiration, process and methodology. ‘It’s very to hard to recreate a dish without direct dialogue with the person who conceived it,’ Lee tells LS:N Global. ‘While it might be very easy to imitate how something looks, it’s a whole other matter to be able to replicate how it tastes.’