Serving roast beef to the president of India might seem like an odd choice. But when Portuguese officials did exactly that in 1990, it was just one peculiar moment in a century-long history of using meals to make friends, break alliances, and send messages without saying a word.
Researchers analyzed menus from 457 Portuguese diplomatic dinners spanning 1910 to 2023, revealing how carefully chosen dishes and rare ingredients shaped the country’s international relations. Food carried symbolic weight that sometimes spoke louder than formal speeches.
“Those meals play a significant role as diplomatic institutions in the execution and continuity of Portuguese foreign policy. They demonstrate how culinary and gastronomic practices have facilitated diplomatic negotiations and provided opportunities for cultural exchange, political messaging, and the conveyance of Portuguese culture.”
The menus themselves tell stories. During the dictatorial Estado Novo period from 1950 to 1962, Portuguese diplomatic tables underwent a fundamental transformation. Gone were the lavish French-dominated feasts with nine or ten courses. In their place came Portuguese products, regional specialties, and dishes designed to communicate national identity.
The Meal That Defined an Era
A turning point arrived in 1957 when Portugal hosted Queen Elizabeth II. The lunch served in Alcobaça was meticulously designed by ethnographer Francisco Lage to showcase Portuguese territory and culture. Lobster from Peniche, veal from Sintra, peas from the Algarve, fruit tarts from Alcobaça, and pineapple from the Azores appeared on the menu. Each ingredient carried a geographic calling card.
The Queen apparently enjoyed Portuguese canned sardines, possibly because she had eaten them as part of British military rations during World War II. Her preferences were carefully noted in embassy documents, which advised that sardines should be included in her meal.
But luxury also marked these diplomatic tables. Some guests consumed products that were already becoming scarce or extinct. Portuguese salmon from the Minho River was served to distinguished visitors from 1957 to 1973, even as local populations watched the species decline. The Duke of Edinburgh received turtle soup in 1973, and trout from the Azores appeared at a 1971 summit with American and French presidents held during a critical Cold War moment.
Five Functions of Diplomatic Dining
The research team identified five distinct purposes for these orchestrated meals: tactical meals for territorial transfers, geopolitical meals to confirm alliances, economic diplomacy meals for commercial relations, scientific cooperation meals to demonstrate shared interests, and cultural proximity meals to strengthen ties with Portuguese-speaking countries.
When Portuguese officials wanted to emphasize cultural connections with former colonies and Portuguese-speaking nations, menus featured dishes tied to shared gastronomy. Codfish recipes appeared frequently, along with Portuguese stew and other recognizable comfort foods. The message was clear without being spoken.
“When strengthening these ties, menus intentionally feature products closely tied to a shared national gastronomy, like Cozido a Portuguesa (Portuguese stew) or codfish recipes.”
Sometimes the choices bordered on playful provocation. In 2016, when Spain’s King Felipe VI visited Portugal, he was served a consomme made from Barrancos ham. The dish represented a gastronomic challenge, a French-style soup featuring a classic French cut but highlighting a key Portuguese product, served to the monarch of a nation famous as “the country of cured ham.”
When Politics Changed the Menu
Political shifts showed up on plates. After Portugal’s colonies gained independence, menus evolved. Coffee was simply called coffee, without indicating country of origin. Colonial language disappeared entirely from diplomatic menus. The understanding of what constituted Portuguese cuisine shifted to reflect new political realities.
The 1974 democratic revolution brought expanded diplomatic engagement, with 155 recorded diplomatic meals between then and 1997. The guest list diversified dramatically, reflecting Portugal’s broader international relationships and new cooperation priorities. France, Spain, Brazil, and the United Kingdom topped the list, but African nations and Eastern European countries appeared with increasing frequency.
Contemporary diplomatic meals sometimes carry environmental messages too. At the 2019 COP25 climate summit in Madrid, dishes bore names like “Warm seas. Eating imbalance” and “Urgent. Minimize animal protein” to draw attention to climate issues.
The research has limitations. Archival materials from certain historical periods remain unavailable, and some menu choices still puzzle researchers. Why serve roast beef to the Indian president in 1990? The team suggests further investigation into these seemingly contradictory decisions.
The study illustrates how national cuisines can be strategically deployed to strengthen global standing. Researchers found no clearly structured culinary diplomatic policy, but rather historical periods with distinct characteristics driven by individual actors and evolving political contexts. The table continues to function as a venue where power, culture, and politics converge, one carefully chosen ingredient at a time.
Frontiers in Political Science: 10.3389/fpos.2025.1669350
ScienceBlog.com has no paywalls, no sponsored content, and no agenda beyond getting the science right. Every story here is written to inform, not to impress an advertiser or push a point of view.
Good science journalism takes time — reading the papers, checking the claims, finding researchers who can put findings in context. We do that work because we think it matters.
If you find this site useful, consider supporting it with a donation. Even a few dollars a month helps keep the coverage independent and free for everyone.