Kadak chai, samosas, chicken tikka, firni, gulab jamun – sounds familiar, doesn’t it? India’s guilty pleasures recently won Pakistan the second place at the Embassy Chef Challenge in Washington. China was awarded first prize in the judges’ category.
As the name suggests, the annual cultural competition sees chefs from embassies and restaurants cooking up the best of their country’s cuisine. This year, it was held at the Smithsonian Museum on 13 October.
The snacks prepared by Muhammad Asghar, executive chef at Washington-based restaurant Shinwari Bar & Grill, won Pakistan second place in the People’s Choice Awards category. He was joined by Maliha Shahid, cultural attaché at the Embassy of Pakistan in the American capital.
Located in Washington’s bustling Chinatown district, Asghar’s restaurant opened its doors in 2021 to give customers a taste of ‘home-style comfort’ food. The Afghan-Pakistan establishment is popular among local people with its diverse menu and timeless South Asian dishes such as kebabs, chicken tikka, vegetable tikkas and aloo sabzi.
Building bridges through food
Such cultural competitions transcend political friction and tension. Last week, US President Joe Biden described Pakistan as “one of the most dangerous nations” to “nuclear weapons without any cohesion.”
But good food is always a unifying factor. “This is the third time that Pakistan has joined the Embassy’s Chef Challenge and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate our cuisine, bridge cultural differences and foster international understanding as well as showcase Pakistani products,” said Ambassador Masood Khan, who was present at the event.
“Winning a place among the top three People’s Choice Awards depicts our cuisine’s strong international appeal to international palates and we hope to bring our culinary diplomacy to even greater heights,” he added.
Using food to nurture cultural connections and fostering relations is a tool Pakistan is keen to build on. In February 2020, the wives of 50 foreign envoys in Pakistan gathered in Islamabad to publish a cookbook, ‘Culinary Diplomacy: Sharing recipes, Building Bridges.’ “This is an excellent initiative to introduce culture through cuisines”, added Samina Alvi, wife of President Arif Alvi.
Back in 2014, on a visit to Kolkata for a food summit, veteran Karachi chef Mohammad Arif advocated for a diplomacy that tastes good. “Every single preparation is delectably different from local varieties and can undertake real diplomacy. We will take back your sweets on return. Rasogolla and Doi to our homeland. If the culinary route is open on both sides, lots of misgivings will go away about each other,” he said.
China, too, is tapping into its cultural goodwill by serving a slice of home. Its winning meal consisted of fish-flavoured shrimp balls and mapo tofu with Chinese tea and baijiu, typical local fare. Uganda used ‘matoke’ as their ingredient of choice, a type of banana that is a staple food crop in the African nation, serving it with greens, beef stew, and banana fritters.
Alam Mendez, Mexico’s representative chef, takes this job seriously. “As chefs, we are the ‘messengers of our mothers and grandmothers who cooked for centuries. We are tasked with conserving the cooking traditions of our communities,” he said in an interview.
The DC Embassy Chef Challenge is part of Washington’s International Food Festival, and has returned to celebrate ‘culinary diplomacy’ for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. A sold-out event, hundreds of attendees flocked from near and far.
Originally started in 2009, embassy chefs from 40 countries gather annually to compete in a friendly competition. “This is fantastic. It’s much more interesting than I thought it would be. Everything’s really good so far, but I love Madagascar,” remarked an attendee. “So far, El-Salvador has won,” said another, excited about the People’s Choice category.
With people eager to expand their palates and indulge in culinary fantasies, ‘food diplomacy,’ may very well be a successful endeavour, with Pakistan at the front of the pack.