Abstract

The presence of Chiloé ham as a political object in events or ceremonies is studied under the concept of gastrodiplomacy. Historical documents are reviewed, along with bibliography. Under the critical heuristic method, the presence of Chiloé ham is detected in diplomatic events as a luxury object, in the form of personal gifts or as part of dinners and banquets, where it reached the table of pirates, viceroys, patriots, generals, sailors, captains, governors and presidents, such as George Shelvocke (1719), Nicolás Salvo (1719), John Byron (1740), Martín de Uribe (1740), Manuel de Amat (1775), José Francisco de Paula (1798), Bernardo O’Higgins (1817), José de San Martín (1817), Lord Cochrane (1818) and Luis José de Orbegoso (1834). The role of Chiloé ham as a precious gift among the civil elite is discovered. It is concluded that the symbolic value of Chiloé ham was used by politicians in colonial and republican times, like the governor of Chile Ambrosio O’Higgins (1789) and the governor of Valparaíso José Saavedra (1789). The gastrodiplomatic link that Bernardo O’Higgins had with Chiloé ham is also identified. Its presence and importance as a chosen food is discovered along with its transformation into a political object, as a gastrodiplomatic weapon. © 2025 Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins. All rights reserved.