Gourmet Diplomacy

A year after leaving Korea for Tufts, Christine Bosworth reflects on the unique demands of furthering diplomacy with food.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [12-18-02] -- A great deal has changed for Christine Bosworth in the year that has passed since she left Korea for Tufts with her husband and Fletcher School Dean, Stephen. The extremely demanding schedule of managing and preparing Embassy dinners has been replaced with more intimate family gatherings. Now that the pace has slowed, Christine Bosworth has had a chance to reflect on her unique experiences at the intersection of food and foreign policy.

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“In Korea, we entertained 167 times in one year,” she told The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, describing the five-year period that her husband served as United States Ambassador to South Korea before assuming his role at Tufts. “I created the menus and managed the kitchen. It was an incredible experience, like running a small hotel.”

A cook since she was 12-years-old, Bosworth was well prepared for the unusual demands of the Embassy. Guests expected to eat culinary specialties from the United States, so she had to be creative.

“She trained her Filipino cook using recipes from cookbooks featuring America’s celebrity chefs, perfecting new recipes before they were served,” the Globe reported.

Today, she has her own cookbook to her credit, “Dinner with Ambassadors,” which she helped prepare and edit.

“Over 60 ambassadors' wives and a few male ambassadors in Seoul worked together over the last 18 months to complete the 304-page book, as part of their effort to introduce their individual dining cultures to the public,” reported Korea Now magazine. “Contained in the international cookbook are 306 dinner recipes widely recognized throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America and the Oceania.”

It takes its direction, in part, from Bosworth’s unique experiences.

"Around the dining table, people exchange ideas and open their minds, and we hope this truly international cookbook will help the public understand the true meaning of diplomatic life and entertaining," Bosworth told Korea Now.

Diplomatic life has taken the Bosworths around the world.

“The Bosworths spent 10 years in New York before Korea,” reported the Globe. “Prior to that, there was a five-year ambassadorship in the Philippines.”

Last fall, Stephen became the dean of Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, bringing the couple to the Bay State.

“[Christine says] the move to Boston – without so many entertaining obligations and with some children and grandchildren nearby – feels good,” reported the Globe.

Photo courtesy The Boston Globe