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네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

Exploring Korean Cuisine: Past & Future

As my aircraft descends through the clouds, I am greeted by a fairytale image of friendly mountains where valleys lined with buildings playfully resemble loose yarn strung through the landscape below. It’s a familiar sight. I smile. It’s wonderful to be going back to Korea which, for three years, our family called “home” in the early 1980s when my husband was the second-in-command at the Canadian Embassy. And am I not lucky to have been one of a dozen food experts from Asia, North America, and Europe invited to participate in a four-day “2007 Korean Food Workshop” on Korean Royal Cuisine and Regional Cuisine. The Korea Foundation and the Korea Society of Food Culture have very generously organized a “super-charged” program for us on Korea’s royal cuisine and regional cuisine.

The first day proves to be a remarkable introduction to Korean Royal Cuisine and Korean cuisine in general. It is not only fascinating but enlightening. Imagine a definitive culinary culture already well established in the Joseon Dynasty (1300s), one that the Korean government has proudly designated as an important intangible cultural asset.
After an inspiring demonstration of surasang (royal table) conducted by none other than the current president of the Institute, Han Bok-Ryeo, it is our turn to don aprons for a hands-on experience. The noise level clearly indicates that everyone is having fun. And then we dine! We stimulate our appetite with luscious tarakjuk (rice and milk porridge), petit hors d’oeuvre-like oiseon (cucumber stuffed with beef, mushroom, and egg), daehajjim (king prawn, meat, and cucumber salad drizzled with an innovative crushed pine nut sauce) - and the menu continues.
This four-hour experience at the Institute has made my entire 24-hour journey to Korea worthwhile. I always have appreciated and enjoyed Korean cuisine. It is simple in terms of ingredients, yet the flavors of particular dishes can be counted among the best in the world.
I did not realize that a yin-and-yang and Five-Elements theory existed in Korean food culture. There are five tastes which seasonings help : sweet, salty, bitter, hot, and sour. The taste of food is also enhanced by five colors: green, yellow, red, black/blue, and white.
That evening, the participants receive a mesmerizing welcome to an 18-course Royal Cuisine dinner! Everything is oh so elegant and delicious!



Our second day takes us to Yonsei University, where the participants have the opportunity of meeting a number of key members of the Korean Society of Food Culture, as well as an auditorium filled with attentive food students, all gathered to hear presentations from four members of our visiting group. Peter Hyun, a freelance journalist from New York, is very direct in his comments on “Food for Thought on Korean Food Culture.” After pointing out that although Korea is everywhere internationally, Korean food remains a rarity in Western countries. Peter suggests that a serious commitment should be undertaken to put Korean food on a “culinary level,” giving it a different, more enticing presentation without “fusing” it with Western foods.
On the topic of Korean Cuisine in New York City, former editor of the New York Times, Gwin Joh Chin, acknowledges that Korean food remains a mystery for most non-Korean diners. She is convinced that surprisingly, it has been left behind as the public has moved from Japanese to Thai, and now to Vietnamese food. She points out that the health-related advantages of eating Korean food could be the focus of a strategic public relations campaign.
Professor John Nihoff of the Culinary Institute of America, emphasizes the nutritional value and disease-prevention qualities of Korean food as well as its simple and basic cooking techniques. Toshio Doi, President of Food Service Professional College, of Japan, offers his views on “Korean Food Culture through the Eyes of Foreigners.”
When other delegates are asked for their views on how to facilitate the globalization of Korean food, we agreed that marketing should be directed toward an emerging international “health conscious” society. In addition, Korean food must be more “doable” and enticing, perhaps by reducing the number of side dishes and adopting a Western style of plating, presentation, and garnishing.



On our third day, a visit to Jeonju begins with a culinary adventure at the very popular Gogung Restaurant and Bibimbap Exhibition. Following a tour of the second floor museum devoted to the history of bibimbap, we simply cross the hall to indulge in yet another magnificent Korean feast. Bibimbap is a deep bowl of various vegetables and nuts, mushrooms, yellow mung-bean jelly, raw beef, and egg, plus seasonings, arranged on top of cooked rice. This dish, consisting of a stunning presentation of the five cardinal colors and five tastes, mixed together with red pepper paste, is extremely tasty and nutritious as well as attractive and practical.
Our culinary adventure of Jeonju continues on to the Korean Life Experience Park as we all enthusiastically chop, slice, and stuff, while accompanying a most competent instructor in the making of a marvelous stuffed kimchi.
Understanding the thought and generous attention to detail obviously given to planning and organizing this four-day workshop, we the participants should not have been surprised that the final event would make this Korean culinary experience truly memorable. Welcomed by Jung-Geum Cha to the JingKwang Culture Center in Bosung, we first witness with intrigue the making of green-tea food. Then, we are off to participate in an authentic tea ceremony (using JingKwang local wild tea) majestically performed in a traditional Korean home. Another highlight of our stop, is observing a remarkable demonstration of the making of the famous onggi earthenware by one of its masters. And, finally, during lunch at the Center, all of what we had seen seems to have been brought together.
Indeed, Chef Jongsook Park and her assistants mesmerize our palates with a JingKwang green tea, “terroir” menu (using ingredients grown locally or taken from waters nearby). Imagine starting with JingKwang green tea and tofu salad as well as spicy green tea octopus, and completing this extraordinarily creative parade of culinary treats with a most delightful citron ball stuffed with green tea rice cake.
The “2007 Korean Food Workshop” was absolutely remarkable and everyone (organizers included) worked in perfect harmony. We, the participants, are now all “ambassadors” for the promotion of Korean cuisine internationally.

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