Feast Fodder - Chefs as Diplomats: Duff Goldman, Naomi Pomeroy and Cathy Whims

Duff Goldman

By Kathleen Squires, Photos by Hernan F. Rodriguez

Two weeks ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the launch of the State Department’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, an initiative in tandem with the James Beard Foundation that will explore worldwide diplomacy via “culinary engagement.” Clinton said,  “Some of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had with my counterparts around the world have taken place over lunch and dinner.” We ran into three of the chefs - Duff Goldman, Naomi Pomeroy and Cathy Whims - appointed to the State Department’s new “American Chef Corps” at Bon Appetit’s Feast Portland this weekend. The chefs will be representing the US abroad via dinners, demos, cooking classes and seminars. Here’s what they had to say about using food as a diplomatic tool.


Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes, Baltimore and LA

"I think it's really smart to use cuisine as a way to identify with other people and also have other people understand who we are as Americans. In all of American history we have been struggling to find out who we are as a people when it comes to food. I think we’re less a melting pot and more of a tossed salad. Korean Barbecue tacos, for example - that really only exists in America. That is a very American thing. So I think the State Department was really smart to say we can show people something about America that is not about military or politics and there is something that is very disarming about that.

When two countries meet to argue something out, you might have a PhD in arguing about sh*t and I have a PhD in arguing about sh*t from my country. And we walk into a room where we have rules and protocol and the dukes are up and we are ready to do battle….and if all of a sudden, I’m like, 'Hey, do you want a cupcake?' Then you become a person, and I become a person and we enjoy the cupcakes and there’s no ego involved anymore. 

I’ll be going to Bogota first, doing a bunch of different demonstrations and working with Colombian culinary students and showing them where the craft can become a career. Next year I am slated for Israel and Shanghai. I don’t want to create an international incident, though. I don’t want to be the first phone call to the State Department, 'We got this guy Duff, and he says he’s with you guys, is that true?' Plausible deniability might come into play."

Naomi Pomeroy, Beast, Portland

"Everybody knows you need to have a full stomach to make a solid decision and a lot of negotiating happens around a meal. It's a powerful tool to bring people together. You can learn about another culture through food and teach about your own culture in a way that is magnificent. 

In this capacity, I want to travel to Japan and I’d love to check out the Middle East. It may not the best time to travel there, but I’ve actually traveled all over the world and seen a lot of crazy stuff. I was in Cambodia the day that Pol Pot died. I lived in India for almost a year. So I think I’m a pretty good candidate for this. 

To me every culture has a different set of values for what they want to eat. And I think it's really important to be respectful of other people’s food choices. Look at the foie gras controversy. I want to be able to eat it if I want to, so I don’t judge the next person for not doing it. That’s a bit of food diplomacy right there. You have yours and I have mine and we can come together and talk about it, but it should be a free choice. "

Cathy Whims, Nostrana and Oven & Shaker, Portland

"I think food, to have good food, is everyone’s basic right. I think food brings more good will than anything. It’s the great uniter among people to be able to talk about different food and different cultures. It helps understand cultures on a basic level as well as a creative, artistic level. Food even helps understand geography, because a culture’s food is based on what grows and is raised in that area. I hope that I am sent to Italy in this capacity to represent the United States. Because I am so passionate about Italy and not only would I love to learn more about what I do but also to share my version of Italian food over there. But honestly, I don’t think there’s anywhere I wouldn’t go as part of the American Chef Corps."