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Instead of drinking beer with free "Honey Butter Chips" or Hawaiian Macadamia nuts on a plate like an airline heiress during this jolly season, I went to a few wine tasting events in Seoul.
Over some glasses of wine, a European gentleman told me soju tasted fine but makgeolli was like "cow piss." I asked him what made him think that, the taste or appearance, and he said both, bursting out in laughter. My initial reaction was: "Why on earth would you ever taste animal urine?"
Then I remembered reading an article about an Indian man who regularly drank cow urine believing it cured his diabetes. However, the photo of his drink looked more like beer in color and clarity with a little bit of foam. I often wonder why Korean taxpayers' money goes into marketing hansik or Korean F&B to Westerners who don't find it appealing, let alone tolerable.
I learned to appreciate drinking makgeolli while I was staying at Lee Moon-yeul's residence several years ago. The bestselling writer is an ardent connoisseur of Korean drinks, and makgeolli was always present. Rich with amino acids, protein and vitamins, the real makgeolli is "alive" just like homemade organic vinegar, with waves of enzyme skirting around in the bottle.
However, I understand people not appreciating the texture of sticky rice cakes or fermented skate fish that smells like ammonia. I too complain about American pizza and Italian pasta not tasting as they do in their native countries. I can understand why some Parisians prefer their own cuisine in Tokyo. Sometimes local food in Seoul is not so Korean.
Korea's traditional rice-based liquors all come from the same clay barrel. After a full three weeks of fermentation, the clarified cheongju is welled up in a yongsu bamboo basket with durable paper. (Soju is distilled from cheongju.) Dongdongju refers to a brewed liquor with floating rice on top. (Takju is made by adding more water to dongdongju.) Makgeolli is then sieved with the sediments.
The lees you obtain from making these rice drinks without much Bâtonnage are excellent facial packs for porcelain skin. I like homemade gayangju to complement the traditional Korean cuisine or serve brown moju boiled with cinnamon, like the aromatic mulled wine, that helps with digestion.
Trained by Manhattan's Michelin star chefs and Korea's Royal Cuisine National Intangible Asset, I guarantee there are many similarities between Asian and European cooking. While some parts of the world have preserved their traditions well and revived them in modern society, some have been unable to, mainly due to the socio-political upheavals and outside influences shading what is traditionally real and what is newly hybridized.
Many Koreans do not know that several sets of chopsticks and spoons were placed on a sang or tray, just like many utensils were placed on the Western table for a full course meal. Koreans also used dining chairs during the fancier dynasties of Silla and Goryo prior to Joseon.
The royal cuisine was never too salty or spicy. The spicy version of kimchi was born only after the chili pepper had arrived in Korea during the Japanese invasion of the late 16th century. Korea's authentic petites fours in its sumptuousness are signs of delicacy, beauty and cultural opulence. The philosophical grace and practicality of using chopsticks without the act of poking and cutting are surely noble. Various folk remedies developed by the commoners including paring ingredients and regularly ingesting balanced nutrients without knowing much about science seems surreal looking back now.
The frenzy over globalization of local food and marketing fusion needs time to understand profoundly what is real on all continents. Without doubt, Korean brand marketing officials and players all need to learn concurrently about their own culture, with deeper knowledge and what the international epicurean palates have been and used to for centuries.
Chung Eun-jung created Newyorkqueen's Studio212 Manhattan cooking programs. Her email address is chung_eun_jung@yahoo.co.kr.
