As you may have heard, America's diplomats are struggling these days with a few distracting and unpleasant events in far-off parts of the world. But they're rising to the challenge: They're sending in the chefs. The U.S. State Department launched a Diplomatic Culinary Partnership two years ago in order to "elevate the role of culinary engagement in America's formal and public diplomacy efforts." 

A visiting American chef yesterday demonstrated his cooking skills in Taipei as part of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Culinary Partnership launched to promote culinary engagement around the world. At a cooking demonstration held at Kai Ping Culinary School yesterday afternoon, American chef Bryce Gilmore made his signature dish, the “pork belly slider,” in front of 32 students of the school. 

When you think of the tools of diplomacy, food isn't always high on the list. But breaking bread together can be one of the most basic ways of finding common ground. Which is why, a couple of years ago, the State Department launched the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership.