High School - Neung-rul - 2nd Grade - Lesson 4

Lesson 4 The World of Korean Food

 

Korean Food Goes Global

 

Rich in nutritional value and unique in taste, Korean cuisine has been embraced by diners across the world. According to a recent survey conducted by the Korean government, visitors to Korea cite the cuisine as one of the top three attractions, along with shopping and sightseeing. Another survey by the Korean Center in Los Angeles showed that about half of Americans surveyed picked “Korean food” as the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Korea.

 

Gimchi is the best known Korean dish. TIME magazine chose gimchi as one of its Top 10 Healthy Foods. There is so much more than just gimchi, though! There are over 2,000 types of Korean

dishes, each one unique in taste, presentation, and color. People worldwide are learning more about Korean food, as can be seen in the following stories.

 

Unique Twist on Traditional Rice Cakes

- By Eugene Oh (Staff Reporter)

 

While the steamer is heating up, all the ingredients show off their beautiful colors as they get mixed with the rice flour. An hour passes as taste and beauty blend together, and the small lump of rice becomes tteok (rice cake), a traditional Korean food, satisfying both the appetite and the eyes.

 

Recently, there has been an effort to promote and develop Korean tteok with exhibitions and contests. On May 9, the Tteok Exhibition and Beautiful Tteok Contest was held in Seoul. Nearly 120 people, including foreigners eager to learn about Korean traditional culture, took part in the contest. Carolyn Johnson, a food writer from Canada, was one of the participants. She said, “I’m inclined toward the taste of tteok. I used to eat it all the time when I first moved here.”

 

At the exhibition, you could see traditional tteok dishes from all over the nation and “fusion” tteok with

chocolate, strawberry syrup, and even fresh cream. Some were delicately carved into roses and some were stuffed with gimchi. New ways of keeping the best flavor of tteok, such as a new style of packaging, were also introduced at the exhibition.

 

According to the exhibit director, many foreigners and Koreans were stunned by the new look of the traditional food, and many now want to learn how to make it. Tteok may prove to be the key to focusing world attention on Korean cuisine.

 

“Tteok is about sharing,” one participant said. He added that he looked forward to the day when tteok becomes like “Korea’s donuts” to the rest of the world.

 

Korean Food’s Cultural Qualities Appeal to Global Tastes

- Interview with The Asia Director of Le Cordon Bleu

 

“Rice Pudding with Orange Flavored Gimchi” and “Chocolate Cake with Gimchi” might sound strange to many ears, but such menu items are being cooked up. In fact, they may be served to the public in the near future, along with the famous Korean barbecue and soybean paste soup.

 

Le Cordon Bleu, an international French cooking school, published Korean Gimchi & Le Cordon Bleu. Subtitled as A Meeting of Flavors, Tastes and Cultures, the book aims to apply modern cooking techniques to gimchi and show how it can be used in many ways. The Asia director of Le Cordon Bleu said, “It was an interesting and daring project to combine the traditional French approach with the symbol of Korean cuisine.”

 

The seemingly difficult project was made possible as the developers at Le Cordon Bleu kept one thing in mind: keep the fundamentals right. “As long as Koreans keep the fundamentals of their food right, they can apply any cooking technique to their food,” he said.

 

Citing the increasing number of Korean restaurants in Europe, he said the main factor of this recent trend has to do with the special cultural qualities of Korean food, which he called “the most outstanding features of Korean food.” “The delivery style of food - whether it’s multiple plates or barbecue on the table or sharing food - is the unique social factor that people enjoy. It’s something to have a good time with,” he said.

 

In closing the interview, he explained about the school’s next project which will focus on the development of traditional Korean drinks. “Korean drinks have a great potential that has not yet been fully developed. They’ll do well in the global market.”

 

As you can see, Korean food is gaining global popularity because of its freshness, taste, and well-known health benefits. In order to continue this trend, many people are promoting Korean food abroad. Three Korean cooking organizations chose 300 food items that can best represent Korean cuisine. They then developed standardized recipes and proper names for the items. These will be made into a new book, which will be translated into several languages and distributed at Korean restaurants in other countries. Also, many Koreans, from ordinary students to professional cooks, are actively posting video clips online that show people how to cook Korean food properly.

 

Moreover, the government is acknowledging the need to upgrade Korean restaurants abroad in order to project a better image of Korean food. It will offer consulting on how to successfully manage restaurants and how to cook delicious Korean dishes. It will also select institutions in Korea to train cooks and managers of Korean restaurants abroad. This plan to globalize Korean food is part of the continuing attempts to power a second “Korean Wave” through the promotion of things that are uniquely Korean.