Interview
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Many foreigners in the country say that they really enjoy eating hansik, but find it difficult to make. Many things, such as the ingredients and seasonings to use, are different from those used when cooking their own foods. One recommended way to learn how to make hansik is to attend one of the courses offered by private cuisine schools or other such institutions. Some private schools offer a special one-day lecture for foreigners. The Hansol Culinary Academy in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, for one, held a lecture for foreigners on how to make bulgogi and gungjung tteokbokki on April 29, 2009. The Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine, which specializes in foods served in the royal court during the Joseon Dynasty, held a 9-session course entitled ‘Plunge into Korean Cuisine’ between April 11 and June 27, It was the institute’s first such course for foreigners. Two lecturers and an interpreter carried out the course, with the assistance of many volunteers and those who have previously completed courses at the institute.
- Fees: 40,000 won for those attending a single session; 100,000 for those attending three sessions. The institute provided the materials needed to cook: ingredients, utensils, and dishes, in addition to lunch and a cook-book. Foods introduced at the lecture included: bulgogi; musangche (radish salad); bean sprout soup; buchimgae (flat cake); doenjang jjigae (Korean bean paste stew with beef and vegetables); tangpyeongchae; gyuasang(mandu stuffed with shredded cucumber and minced beef in the shape of a sea cucumber); bibimbap (rice with minced meat and various other cooked vegetables such as bean sprouts; bellflower roots and mushrooms); radish soup; samsaek namul (three colored potherbs); tteokbokki (rice cakes cooked in a spicy mixture); gimbap (steamed rice and various other ingredients; rolled in gim (sheets of dried seaweed) and served cold in bite-sized slices; egg soup with pollackjapchae (cellophane noodles or dangmyeon stir-fried in sesame oil with various vegetables; baechu geotjeori (seasoned cabbage); miyeokguk (seaweed soup); samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup); dotorimuk muchim (seasoned acorn jelly); and oi sobagi (cucumber kimchi).
- One person who took part in the preparation for the session said that the focus was on foods most likely to be appreciated by foreigners, so very spicy foods were excluded. Lecturers gathered together as often as possible for about half a year, discussing good methods of cooking and checking improved methods of cooking the dishes one by one.
- Foreign attendees expressed a high level of satisfaction as a result of these efforts. Encouraged by the great success of the first event, students of royal court foods and the volunteer helpers say that they will continue their efforts. For further inquiries, please visit the homepage of the Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine (http://www.food.co.kr) or call 82-2-3673-1122 or 82-10-5612-7912.
- >Mini Interview- With Sonja K. Bradfield, an attendee at the Korean food-cooking lecture
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Sonja K. Bradfield (24), a Korean-American teaching English at an elementary school, eagerly attended Plunge into Korean Cuisine!, a practice lecture in Korean traditional food cooking held by the Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine. By May 23, when this interview was conducted, she had taken all six of the sessions held until then. (The entire event was composed of nine sessions.)?
Sonja said, “As my Mom is Korean, I grew up eating Korean foods made by her or my Grandma. I just ate them, having no idea what ingredients were used or how they were made. Now, living in Korea, I naturally became interested in methods of cooking hansik. It was not easy to find Korean cooking lectures for foreigners. I checked various sources and finally saw an ad on the bulletin board at Yonsei University’s Foreign Language Institute.”
She said that she and her friends became lovers of hansik, as her Mom invited them to her house and served them with Korean foods on special occasions such as her birthdays or graduation from middle and high schools. Their favorite foods were bulgogi, galbi and japchae. She noted that her opinions should be taken into account by those attempting to globalize hansik. So, what would be her favorite hansik? -
She said, “Among the recipes taught here (at this institute), I like tteokbokki the best. Here, tteokbokki is more delicious and less spicy than those sold by sidewalk vendors. You know, this place teaches how to cook royal cuisine, but I still love the sidewalk vendors’foods very much, maybe because I grew up eating hansik.”
She says that cheonggukjang (soybean paste stew) tastes sweet to her, when even some Koreans avoid it due to the pungent smell. She strongly recommends that her friends eat more hansik, saying that they are nutritiously balanced foods that contain lots of vegetables.
She hopes to work for an institution in the U.S. relating to the enhancement of friendly relations between the two countries after learning the Korean language and the country’s traditional cultures earnestly during her stay in Korea. She also plans to display her skills in cooking hansik by serving her parents and friends with the foods she learned to cook here.
