当全球金融精英下周云集曼谷时，泰国希望给他们留下深刻印象。甚至指尖食品也是计划的一部分。
Thailand wants to leave an impression when the world’s finance elite descend on Bangkok next week. Even the finger food is part of the plan.
泰国时隔33年再次主办国际货币基金组织和世界银行年会，这为这个东南亚国家提供了难得的机会，向来自191个国家的15000多名财长、央行行长、高管及其他代表展示其文化。泰国将从饮食到听觉的方方面面都视为软实力行使的演练。
Hosting the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings, for the first time since 1991, gives the Southeast Asian nation a rare chance to put its culture before more than 15,000 finance ministers, central bankers, executives and other delegates from 191 countries. Thailand is treating everything from what they eat to what they hear as an exercise in soft power.
对于一个无法仅凭经济或地缘政治分量登上全球舞台中央的中等强国而言，这种影响力至关重要。让决策者持续关注泰国，有助于在会议结束后长期吸引游客、投资者和企业。
For a middle power that can’t command the global stage through economic or geopolitical heft alone, that influence matters. Keeping Thailand in the minds of decision-makers can help attract tourists, investors and businesses long after the meetings end.
美食长期以来一直是泰国“美食外交”的工具，也是泰国更广泛软实力战略的关键部分。政府的“泰国厨房走向世界”计划在海外推广泰国餐厅和美食，同时支持食品出口、农民和企业家。因此，即使代表们在会议间隙匆忙赶路、有时站着进食，主办方仍在餐盘上的每一道菜品上倾注了大量心思。
Food has long been a tool of Thai gastrodiplomacy and is a key part of Thailand’s broader soft-power strategy. The government’s “Thai Kitchen to the World” initiative promoted Thai restaurants and cuisine overseas while supporting food exports, farmers and entrepreneurs. So even with delegates rushing between meetings and sometimes eating while standing, considerable thought is going into what fits on their plates.
本次会议主场地——诗丽吉王后国家会议中心的行政总厨Songpol Kittikhunwatchana，正将普通的罗非鱼打造为精致佳肴：用香茅、肉桂、丁香和泰国青柠腌制陈化五天。他表示，这一工艺能紧实鱼肉原本松软的质地，创造出更浓郁、绵密的口感，足以让食客误以为是鲷鱼或高档海鲈鱼。
Songpol Kittikhunwatchana, executive chef at the meetings’ main venue, the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, is giving humble tilapia a fine-dining makeover, aging it for five days with makrut lime, lemongrass, cinnamon and cloves. The technique, he said, firms its soft flesh and creates a richer, creamier texture, enough that diners might mistake it for sea bream or premium sea bass.
“食物必须便于食用，且不能妨碍与会者交流，”宋波尔在一次采访中说道。“我们不能只提供制作复杂的泰国菜肴。因此我们必须在规定的菜单范围内进行创作，借助本地食材将泰国的风味呈现在餐桌上。”宋波尔希望各国代表能认识到那些在泰国人眼中再普通不过的食材其实也极具价值。罗非鱼本身便承载着一段典型的泰国故事：1965年，已故国王普密蓬·阿杜德从当时还是王储的日本明仁天皇处获赠50条罗非鱼，随后便开始培育这一品种，并广泛推广，使其成为一种价格亲民的蛋白质来源。
“The food has to be easy to eat without getting in the way of discussions,” Songpol said in an interview. “We can’t simply serve elaborate Thai dishes. So we work within the required menus and let local ingredients bring Thailand to the table.”Songpol wants delegates to see value in ingredients many Thais consider ordinary. The tilapia itself carries a distinctly Thai story. The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej began breeding tilapia after receiving 50 of the fish from Japan’s then-Crown Prince Akihito in 1965, and later distributed thousands to promote them as an affordable source of protein.
此次会议期间所使用的约2000种食材中，有70%至80%都将产自泰国。
About 70%-80% of the roughly 2,000 ingredients used during the meetings will be sourced in Thailand.
他正选用本地大米与椰子，同时也运用一些不太常见的原料，比如泰国产的味噌与奶酪，以及产自南部北大年府的“甜盐”。就连香蒜酱也进行了“泰国化改造”——用本地香草、米糠油与腰果取代了传统的罗勒、橄榄油与松子。马萨曼咖喱则会被用来填充在烤牛肉卷中。
He’s working with local rice and coconuts alongside less obvious products including Thai-made miso and cheese and “sweet salt” from the southern province of Pattani. Even pesto is getting a Thai makeover, with local herbs, rice-bran oil and cashews replacing the usual basil, olive oil and pine nuts. Massaman curry will turn up inside roast-beef wraps.
10月16日举办的政府招待会将为泰国提供更多展示机会。届时街头小吃摊贩将与多家获得米其林认证的泰国餐厅同台亮相，其中包括荣获两星评级的R-Haan，以及分别获评一星的Bo.lan与Chim by Siam Wisdom。宋波尔还特意准备了一道创意小食：将普吉岛龙虾搭配椰子水、黄瓜以及一种在泰国颇受欢迎的富含蛋白质的微型水生植物——水蕹菜一同呈上。
A government reception on Oct. 16 will give Thailand more room to show off. Street-food vendors will serve alongside Michelin-recognized Thai restaurants including two-star R-Haan and one-star Bo.lan and Chim by Siam Wisdom. Songpol is also preparing a bite combining Phuket lobster with coconut water, cucumber and watermeal, a tiny protein-rich aquatic plant eaten in Thailand.
美食只是泰国展示的一部分。曾在美国《达人秀》节目中走红、如今已小有名气的泰国少年吉他手Nene Royal也将于下周为各国代表献上表演，为这场展示活动增添泰国最新的文化元素。
Food is only part of the pitch. Nene Royal, the teenage Thai guitarist who became a global sensation on America’s Got Talent, is due to perform for delegates next week, adding one of the country’s newest cultural exports to the showcase.
近年来，泰国日益注重借助美食、娱乐与流行文化来提升国际影响力，试图以文化魅力吸引那些超出其传统经济与外交实力所能触及的受众群体。对宋波尔而言，成功的衡量标准其实更为简单。
Thailand has increasingly turned to food, entertainment and popular culture to amplify its international profile, using cultural influence to reach audiences beyond the country’s traditional economic and diplomatic weight. For Songpol, success can be measured more simply.
“只要有一个人回家后说：‘那场活动上的食物真好吃’，我就心满意足了，”他说道。
“If just one person goes home and says, ‘The food at that event was delicious,’ I’d be happy,” he said.