100 Years of Menus Reveal How Food Has Quietly Shaped Political Alliances
In international politics, not every message is delivered through speeches or formal agreements. Sometimes, it arrives on the plate. A new analysis of 457 Portuguese state menus, spanning more than a century, shows that official meals often carried diplomatic meaning woven into their dishes.
Published in Frontiers in Political Science, the study finds that these menus quietly shaped foreign relations — signaling political priorities, strengthening alliances, and expressing national identity in ways that words alone couldn’t.
“Those meals play a significant role as diplomatic institutions in the execution and continuity of Portuguese foreign policy,” said Óscar Cabral, the first author of the article, in a press release. “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.”
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Shifts on the State Menu
Portugal’s state menus have shifted alongside the country’s political priorities. Early in the 20th century, official banquets leaned heavily on French haute cuisine. By the Estado Novo era, however, Portugal began highlighting its own regions and ingredients — a shift that culminated in the 1957 “regional lunch” for Queen Elizabeth II. Later decades brought new signals: rare dishes like turtle soup and Azorean trout emphasized exclusivity, while the post-colonial period saw menus quietly dropping references tied to empire.
In recent years, the messaging has become even more direct, with dish names themselves reflecting the issues on the agenda.
“Menus can be intentionally designed to convey political messages and communicate non-gastronomic aspects,” Cabral explained. “For example, the COP25 meal in Madrid used dish names like ‘Warm seas. Eating imbalance’ and ‘Urgent. Minimize animal protein’ to draw attention to climate issues.”
What 457 Diplomatic Dinners Reveal
For this study, the team analyzed 457 diplomatic menus from 1910 to 2023, treating each one as a political document. They logged who attended, how the courses were structured, where ingredients were sourced, and how dishes were described.
From this dataset, the researchers identified five distinct diplomatic roles. Tactical meals marked sensitive visits or territorial transitions. Geopolitical meals reaffirmed alliances across Europe and within NATO. Economic-diplomacy meals highlighted ingredients tied to trade or export markets. Science, culture, and development meals aligned Portugal with shared projects. And cultural-proximity meals strengthened ties with Portuguese-speaking nations.
“When strengthening these ties, menus intentionally feature products closely tied to a shared national gastronomy, like Cozido à Portuguesa (Portuguese stew) or codfish recipes,” said Cabral in the press release.
Case studies showed how these functions shaped what arrived on the plate. Cultural-proximity meals leaned on salted cod, stews, and familiar regional staples to signal shared heritage. Economic-diplomacy dinners emphasized products tied to major export sectors, such as wines or specialty seafood. Geopolitical meals often kept a formal Franco-European structure — clear broths, fish entrées, restrained desserts — to project stability and continuity to allies.
When a Dish Shapes a Nation’s Brand
The authors argue that food deserves a place alongside language, values, and tradition in how Portugal presents itself to the world.
“Our study illustrates how national cuisines can be strategically used to strengthen a country’s global standing,” Cabral said.
The analysis is limited by gaps in the historical record, and a few menu choices, such as roast beef served to India’s president in 1990, remain unexplained. Even so, the findings suggest that what a nation serves can shape how it’s seen long after the plates are cleared.
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