{"id":559844,"date":"2026-09-30T11:11:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/?p=559844"},"modified":"2026-09-30T15:42:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:42:20","slug":"burmese-food-beyond-the-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2026\/09\/30\/burmese-food-beyond-the-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Burmese food beyond the border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-colored-bkg has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>From Bangkok to London, Burmese food is finding new audiences. As chefs navigate questions of authenticity, adaptation and status, who gets to define a cuisine as diverse as the country it comes from?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Few cuisines make it globally. Italian and Japanese, for example, are culinary shorthand. Suggest either, and most diners will have a good idea of what to expect. Suggest Burmese, and many hesitate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey don\u2019t know where Burma is \u2026 and they don\u2019t know it\u2019s called <strong>Myanmar<\/strong>,\u201d says <strong>Zaw Mahesh<\/strong>, co-founder of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/lahpet.co.uk\/\">Lahpet<\/a><\/strong>, a pioneering Burmese restaurant in <strong>London<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-emphasis wp-block-paragraph\">Myanmar sits between culinary giants: India, China, and Thailand. Its food has been shaped through centuries of exchange with its neighbours, while developing traditions that are distinctly its own. Yet ask what Burmese cuisine is and an answer is elusive.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The terminology itself is unsettled. In English, \u201cBurmese\u201d is often used as a national adjective, but it can also be understood as referring to the majority Bamar population. Here, it is used as an imperfect umbrella for food from Myanmar, and this ambiguity is part of the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In some ways, the cuisine\u2019s limited international profile is surprising. \u201cFor fans of Southeast Asian cuisines\u201d, as food writer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/10\/17\/dining\/shining-a-light-on-myanmars-comfort-food.html\"><strong>Julia Moskin<\/strong> wrote in <em>The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, \u201cdiscovering Burmese food is the adult equivalent of finding a new playground, right in your <a>neighborhood<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Myanmar\u2019s decades of isolation, briefly eased in the 2010s before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cfr.org\/global-conflict-tracker\/conflict\/rohingya-crisis-myanmar\">2021 coup<\/a> and the triggering of a much broader phase of civil war, have limited exposure. Few outsiders encounter the cuisine at its source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Yet, abroad, Burmese restaurants are quietly starting to thrive.<\/mark> Their growth has been driven by longstanding migration from Myanmar, including waves of conflict-driven displacement. <strong>Bangkok<\/strong>, a little over an hour&#8217;s flight from <strong>Yangon<\/strong> and home to a large community of Myanmar nationals, likely hosts the greatest concentration of Burmese eateries outside the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you know where to look, Burmese fare abounds. You\u2019ll find it served at street carts, shophouse eateries, canteen-style restaurants, and more polished dining rooms. You\u2019ll even find Burmese dishes sneaking onto unlikely menus. At <strong>Propaganda Bar<\/strong>, \u201cMyanmar tea leaf salad\u201d sits beside \u201cChicken nuggets\u201d and \u201cPropa fried chicken\u201d, added after a Burmese waitress persuaded the owner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most, like <a href=\"https:\/\/share.google\/4j51oXMnhdU3ziyLX\"><strong>Hpa-An restaurant<\/strong><\/a> in <strong>Phra Khanong<\/strong>, referred to by some as Bangkok\u2019s \u201cLittle Myanmar\u201d, cater to migrants seeking an affordable taste of home.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rangoonteahouse.bkk\/?hl=en\"><strong>Rangoon Tea House<\/strong><\/a>, one of the few upscale restaurants taking the cuisine to new audiences, expanding from Yangon to Bangkok was an obvious move: ingredients are easy to source, and many former employees had already relocated to the city. \u201cProximity to Myanmar is a huge bonus,\u201d says co-founder <strong>Htet Myet Oo<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With branches in <strong>Thong Lor<\/strong>, one of Bangkok&#8217;s more affluent neighbourhoods, and <strong>ICONSIAM<\/strong>, a luxury riverside shopping centre, Rangoon Tea House plates the cuisine on a glitzier stage with Instagram-ready d\u00e9cor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Cities like Bangkok and London offer lesser-known cuisines a chance to gain recognition. But how does a cuisine introduce itself? Who decides what it represents, and the status it attains?<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The challenge of defining Burmese cuisine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re in Myanmar itself, there\u2019s no such thing as Burmese cuisine,\u201d Htet says. \u201cYou have different regions and ethnicities.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Myanmar is one of Asia\u2019s most ethnically diverse countries. It is home to a Bamar majority and numerous ethnic minority groups, including the Shan, Karen, Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Mon, Karenni, Rohingya, Wa, Naga, and Pa-O peoples. Many have fought for greater autonomy or self-determination since Myanmar gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The country\u2019s geography is equally varied, encompassing the fertile<strong> Ayeyarwady<\/strong> river delta, the dry central plains, the <strong>Shan<\/strong> highlands, the easternmost fringes of the <strong>Himalayas<\/strong>, and a long tropical coastline. Together, these landscapes form a rich tapestry of food traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-emphasis wp-block-paragraph\">That diversity creates both freedom and responsibility. Without a fixed blueprint in the minds of international diners, chefs abroad have unusual power to define the canon as well as to flatten or preserve regional variation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s almost a responsibility on the diaspora,\u201d says UK-based Burmese food writer <strong>MiMi Aye<\/strong>. \u201cWe could do a really good job at misleading people. No one is going to challenge us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For MiMi, some ingredient substitution is acceptable when a cuisine travels, provided flavours remain true. \u201cWe can\u2019t get half the stuff we want,\u201d she says. \u201cIf it tastes right, I\u2019m happy.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She draws the line where substitutions change a dish\u2019s identity. \u201cLet&#8217;s say you got served spaghetti Bolognese, right? And you were expecting them to bring out the Parmesan. And they came and crumbled Stilton over it \u2026 are you going to say, \u2018Oh, it&#8217;s the same. It&#8217;s all cheese.\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This isn\u2019t to say there is no room for experimentation. Reinterpretations, she says, are welcome so long as they are presented as such. She disagrees when diners are misled about how a dish should taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">And, so what is Burmese food?&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arguably one of the more authoritative voices on the cuisine of Myanmar \u2013 at least for English-language audiences \u2013 is <strong>Naomi Duguid<\/strong>. In her book, <em>Burma: Rivers of <a>Flavor<\/a><\/em>, she describes a pantry built around peanut or sesame oil, dried red chillies, turmeric powder, roasted chickpea flour, dried shrimp, shrimp paste, fish sauce, tamarind pulp, lime, shallots, garlic, and ginger. Compared with many neighbouring cuisines, chillies are used sparingly during cooking, with extra heat added at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rice is the staple. Noodles are common. Curries made with fish, beef, pork, chicken, vegetables or eggs play a central role. <em>Thokes<\/em>, or salads, for want of a better English word, are abundant, though they may bear little resemblance to what Western diners imagine (see tea leaf salad, below).&nbsp;According to Zaw, <em>Thoke<\/em> doesn\u2019t necessarily mean salad and could be better translated as \u201chand-mixed\u201d; they can be warm or cold dishes, he says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Meals are generally served family-style. Dips, relishes, pickles, and fresh vegetables are integral to a meal.<\/mark> Combined with rice and curries to individual taste, they make each bite different. As Naomi Duguid writes, \u201cit\u2019s the extra dishes on the table that make eating in Burma such a special pleasure, mouthful by mouthful\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Discussions over a possible national dish often settle on <em>mohinga<\/em>. This rice-noodle soup is made with a fish-based broth, with sliced banana stem adding texture. It is commonly eaten for breakfast. The recipe varies across the country: different regions favour different fish, broth thickness varies, either chickpea flour or toasted rice may be used as a thickener, and garnishes and spice levels differ from place to place.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Mohinga<\/em>, according to Mimi, \u201cis widespread enough that we can say it&#8217;s a national dish\u201d. Though she is careful to note that there are \u201cloads of variations\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tea leaf salad is the strongest rival candidate. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to a Burmese restaurant anywhere in the world, I would assume tea leaf salad is top of the list of best-selling dishes,\u201d says Htet. The dish combines fermented tea leaves with roasted peanuts, split peas and beans, dried shrimp, garlic, green chilli and lime. Diced tomato and shredded cabbage are sometimes added.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns pattern-images-2-v is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-3a88641f wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"725\" src=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tea-leaf-salad-components-1030x725.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-561074\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2\/3;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tea-leaf-salad-components-1030x725.png 1030w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tea-leaf-salad-components-300x211.png 300w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tea-leaf-salad-components-767x540.png 767w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tea-leaf-salad-components-600x422.png 600w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tea-leaf-salad-components.png 1495w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tea leaf salad &#8211; components<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"687\" src=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Tea-leaf-salad-1030x687.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-561076\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2\/3;object-fit:cover\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Tea-leaf-salad-1030x687.png 1030w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Tea-leaf-salad-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Tea-leaf-salad-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Tea-leaf-salad-600x400.png 600w, https:\/\/cookinc.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Tea-leaf-salad.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tea leaf salad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reducing Burmese cuisine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, just naming <em>mohinga<\/em> and tea leaf salad plays into another danger when a cuisine is exported: reduction to a handful of archetypes, as happened with Indian cuisine and its <em>butter chickens<\/em> and <em>biryanis<\/em>. Familiar dishes provide an accessible entry point, but they can flatten a national cuisine, obscuring the richness of its regional traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite talking and writing about Burmese food for two decades, MiMi says she still doesn\u2019t see herself as an authority. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can at all,\u201d she says. \u201cWhatever you try to introduce \u2026 is going to be a fraction of what is actually out there.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Acknowledging this matters because cuisines are granted differing levels of nuance. In <strong>Britain<\/strong>, for example, French restaurants can readily identify themselves with regional traditions such as those of Provence, Alsace or Lyon. Indian restaurants, by contrast, have historically been more likely to present themselves as simply \u201cIndian\u201d than as Bengali, Goan, Keralan, or Kashmiri, although this has begun to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Familiarity helps to create demand for specificity.<\/mark> Where regional foods are unfamiliar, they are less likely to be sought, valued, or marketed. Food from Myanmar faces the same challenge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adapting and translating food for a new audience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the \u201cmajority of people, you can\u2019t spend a whole day explaining what the country is like,\u201d says Htet from Bangkok. \u201cThere are dishes that we\u2019ve created, trying to celebrate different parts of the country \u2026 but sometimes it doesn\u2019t translate to the guest appreciating them as much as we had wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In London, Zaw says some adaptation is unavoidable: \u201cThe salt is different. The oil is different. You know, the water is different.\u201d Even \u201cproper Burmese rice\u201d is unavailable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Customers shape the menu too. \u201cMy diners are not Burmese, so I cannot go \u2018Burmese Burmese\u2019,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you want proper Burmese food in the UK, come to my house. In my restaurant, I have to go for the British palate.\u201d Some late-night diners and pregnant customers, for example, prefer to avoid the caffeine in tea leaf salad, while some dishes have been adapted to be eaten with a knife and fork.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Other changes are imposed by regulation. UK food-safety rules make it harder to serve food at room temperature or leave dishes on the table, practices that are common in Myanmar.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a>Back at Rangoon Tea House in Bangkok, communication is central. \u201cIt\u2019s about filling that gap for a guest who has no idea what Burmese cuisine is,\u201d Htet says. In Yangon, the menu carries no photographs; in Bangkok, it does. Dish names matter too. \u201cDo we call it tea leaf salad or <em>laphet thoke<\/em>?\u201d he asks.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes a menu is not enough. At Rangoon Tea House&#8217;s ICONSIAM branch, a tea leaf salad station stands at the entrance to educate and draw new customers in. &#8220;The restaurant is beautifully designed. The team is really good. It looks like a very enticing place, but for a lot of people, just seeing a nice-looking restaurant is not enough, especially if they&#8217;re so unfamiliar with Burmese cuisine,&#8221; Htet says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moving through the hierarchy of taste<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not all cuisines are afforded the same level of prestige. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-default wp-block-paragraph\">Sociologists describe a \u201cglobal hierarchy of taste\u201d: certain traditions, French and Japanese for instance, are perceived as refined and technically demanding, accruing cultural capital and commanding higher prices.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-emphasis wp-block-paragraph\">By contrast, food from much of the so-called Global South is often perceived as lacking culinary sophistication and is expected to be both cheap and \u201cauthentic\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But authentic to whom? Food scholar <strong>Krishnendu Ray<\/strong> describes authenticity as a subjective search for accuracy and sincerity. Diners value it, but narrow expectations can confine chefs to the flavours or dishes that have already become stereotypical. Burmese cuisine has barely entered this hierarchy: by which yardstick are diners judging its \u201cauthenticity\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Krishnendu sees Burmese cuisine benefiting from a broader cultural shift. Increasingly, he says, there is a search for the \u201cmore remote, more quaint, more distant, and less known\u201d. Sociologists call this \u201comnivorousness\u201d.<\/mark> First observed in studies of American musical taste, the idea is that acquiring cultural capital increasingly comes from demonstrating range, rather than exclusivity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOld-fashioned snobbery is being flipped on its head,\u201d Krishnendu says. \u201cTo be cool, I&#8217;m listening to hip hop and bluegrass and global pop and maybe some Indian music, a little bit of Bollywood.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same logic can apply to food, and cuisines on the margins can leverage it for some degree of upward mobility in this global hierarchy of taste. Prestige comes less from eating at the most expensive restaurant than from cultivating a reputation as a curious, cosmopolitan diner with the knowledge to appreciate many culinary traditions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Twenty-five years ago, culinary prestige in many Western countries was closely associated with French fine dining; today, the ability to move comfortably between Burmese tea leaf salad, regional Mexican cooking, natural wine and Korean makgeolli becomes its own form of cultural capital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo be cool, you rarely or never say, \u2018I don&#8217;t eat that\u2019 or \u2018I don&#8217;t listen to that\u2019,\u201d Krishnendu says. \u201cThe coolest place to be is I eat everything, I have preferences, I like certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Krishnendu suggests that \u201cfood is almost a generation or two generations behind music\u201d. Digitisation allows music to circulate almost instantly; food still depends on people travelling, migrating, or opening restaurants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The power of geography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Htet, geography may help. \u201cOne of the reasons Mexican cuisine is so popular is proximity to America,\u201d he says. \u201cIf a certain percentage of India, China, Thailand, and Malaysia celebrate Burmese cuisine, I think that will start to go a really long way into putting it on the global map.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Krishnendu sees the same opportunity. As millions in neighbouring China and India join the middle class, he argues, they seek experiences beyond their basic needs. \u201cThey want to see the world; they want to eat other people\u2019s food.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">Bangkok, he suggests, is one of the cities at the centre of this growing flow of Asian tourism and, with it, coming back to omnivorousness, \u201ca thin section of adventurous eating.\u201d&nbsp;<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The future<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MiMi is optimistic about what\u2019s coming. Reflecting on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vittlesmagazine.com\/p\/six-of-one-myanmar-special\">an article she wrote<\/a> about London\u2019s Burmese restaurant scene, she says it \u201cwas a real joy\u201d. Only a few years earlier, she would have struggled to find enough restaurants to write about.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor decades we had one place that was on <strong>Edgware Road<\/strong>, one place called <strong>Mandalay<\/strong>, and then the odd place that would pop up and then disappear.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The arrival of Lahpet, Zaw\u2019s restaurant, marked a turning point. \u201cLahpet came along, and that was just wildly exciting because it was the first time it felt like, oh my God, Burmese food, people will understand it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MiMi is also encouraged that flavours are not being overly softened to meet Western expectations. She points to <em>ngapi<\/em>, the fermented fish or shrimp paste that provides the deep savoury foundation of much Burmese cooking. Its pungent aroma can be challenging to the uninitiated, creating a temptation to tone it down.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere has been a real danger historically that we just cook the stuff people get,\u201d she says. \u201cNow, I don\u2019t think that is happening anymore \u2026 people are being proud about the flavours.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She hopes that within five to ten years the cuisine will be familiar enough and she\u2019ll no longer have to revert to saying \u201cit\u2019s a bit like Thai food\u201d as an imperfect and inaccurate shortcut.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast-forward a decade, Htet says, and he would be surprised if Burmese cuisine were not better known, perhaps even mainstream in places. \u201cAll you need is one hip Burmese restaurant in a country you didn\u2019t expect,\u201d he says. \u201cThat might inspire the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps, one day, the English language will adopt the word <em>thoke<\/em>, much as it has <em>mezze<\/em>, <em>tapas<\/em>, <em>thali<\/em>, and <em>dim sum<\/em>, to name but a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">It\u2019s about more than food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For MiMi, recognition is not only about culinary status. It is also about empathy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want people to care about Myanmar,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you\u2019re interested in the cuisine \u2026 it might make you more interested in the country.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea echoes the concept of gastrodiplomacy, typically a state-led effort to build soft-power and shape national image. In Myanmar\u2019s case \u2013 amid military rule and civil war \u2013 where the state lacks the moral authority and capacity to undertake such efforts, the role can be assumed by citizens and diaspora.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-emphasis wp-block-paragraph\">Cooking, Krishnendu suggests, is a form of \u201cpeople-to-people\u201d diplomacy, a way of intervening in the world that is a little more material than words alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Bangkok to London, Burmese food is finding new audiences. As chefs navigate questions of authenticity, adaptation and status, who gets to define a cuisine as diverse as the country it comes from? Few cuisines make it globally. Italian and Japanese, for example, are culinary shorthand. 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