Korean Food - A Cuisine Worth Discovering

by J.-P. L. Prévost and F. Mohamed


Asian food is quite popular in North America. Chinese food buffets can be found in most cities, and Japanese-style sushi has become quite popular, particularly on the west coast of the continent. Thai and Vietnamese food are also well known, as is Indian food. Korean food, on the other hand, is far less popular.

Perhaps realizing that Korean cuisine is not as well known as other Asian cuisines, the Korean government decided to promote Korean cuisine internationally in 2008, aiming to have it recognized as one of the top five most popular cuisines in the world by 2017 [1, 2]. Starting in May of 2009, the government commissioned a task force to study how Korean food could be globalized [3]. A number of conferences and food expos were held in order to help Korean food producers gain market share within Korea and internationally [4]. Even the first lady of Korea got involved, appearing on CNN to promote some of her favourite dishes [5]. The government also surveyed citizens of foreign nations, seeking their advice on how best to promote Korean cuisine [6].

It seems that there has been some success with this approach because Korea is gaining popularity as a food tourism destination [7]. However a closer examination of this trend suggests that efforts to promote Korean food are aimed primarily at Asian and American tourists [6], and it seems that the food that is most similar to North American cuisine is gaining the most popularity (eg. Korean barbecue) [8]. Moreover, there is a concerted effort on the part of the government to promote dishes with altered spiciness and saltiness, so that it is more "desirable" to foreign palettes [6]. This concerns us because we have sampled a wide range of delicious and authentic Korean foods and we believe that Korean cuisine should be appreciated for its naturally robust flavours and ingredients as much as possible, and not altered to cater to foreign tastes.

Our mission in this series on Korean food is to give you a taste of some of the mouthwatering Korean dishes that we have sampled (we are assuming they are authentic because we are often the only non-Koreans in busy Korean restaurants) and to make a case for non-Koreans to challenge themselves to explore as many new Korean dishes as possible.


References:
1 - KBS.  (2008, April 2).  "Gov't to Promote Korean Food Overseas".  Seoul:  KBS. 
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Cu_detail.htm?No=53588

2 - KBS.  (2009, April 6).  "Gov't Seeks to Globalize Korean Food".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Cu_detail.htm?No=62559

3 - KBS.  (2009, May 4).  "Joint Task Force Kicks Off to Promote Traditional Food".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Ec_detail.htm?No=63240

4 - KBS.  (2009, October 13).  "Korea Food Expo Opens".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Cu_detail.htm?No=58264

5 - KBS.  (2009, October 19).  "First Lady Promotes Korean Cuisine on CNN".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Cu_detail.htm?No=67444

6 - KBS.  (2009, September 10).  "Gov't to Administer Overseas Surveys on Korean Food".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Ec_detail.htm?No=66486

7 - KBS.  (2011, October 12).  "Survey:  Foreigners Pick Food as Seoul's Key Attraction".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Dm_detail.htm?No=85190

8 - KBS.  (2011, October 24).  "Samgyeopsal Favorite Food Among Foreigners".  Seoul:  KBS.
Retrieved January 3, 2012 from:  http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Dm_detail.htm?No=85495