Experts discuss how to globalize Korean food

An assortment of Korean dishes / Korea Times

By Yun Suh-young

Fierce discussion was ongoing at Chwiseongwan of Korea House in Chungmuro, central Seoul, last Wednesday, among Korean food experts in their respective fields ― chefs, food columnists, food tour company CEOs, culinary school professors and culture foundation staff. The group was discussing difficulties in promoting Korean food and how Korean food culture and its industry could improve to accommodate a wider global audience.

The food forum, hosted by the Federation of Korean Cultural Center and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, toured the country discussing similar topics. Seoul was the second venue after Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, and the discussion tour will continue in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday and in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on June 24.

"How can we commercialize the food we eat every day? What is different from the Korean food we serve at restaurants and what we eat at home?" asked Cho Hee-sook, advisory professor at Creative Culinary Institute of Korea, during her presentation.

"To differentiate, we need to change the way we serve. We need to change our plating. We need to have a standardized order of serving much like the French or the Japanese have their sequence. We need to categorize dishes into these orders so that they can be universally considered appetizers or main dishes."

The problem with Korean food's slow development is the lack of educational institutions that can produce quality chefs, according to food columnist Park Sang-hyun.

"There are many culinary schools fostering Korean food chefs, but students who graduate from these schools are not proficient enough to handle professional work in real-life kitchens. In order to fill the gap, they then turn to study overseas at renowned institutions, which is an irony. We need professional institutions to train chefs properly so that we don't lose these talents. Foreign chefs should be coming to Korea to learn Korean cuisine," said Park.

"One of the biggest assets for Korea is Korea-born chefs living overseas. The Korean foods they reinterpret in their own style are well received overseas. These foreign chefs who have Korean heritage have inherited the tastes from their mothers and grandmothers, but they long for systematic education on Korean food."

What further delays the development of Korean food is the lack of official recognition given to chefs specializing in Korean food.

"For professional chefs, we need a system such as the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) which is a medal given to master craftsmen there. We need to bestow status and recognition to artisans of kimchi or soybean paste. We need a system where their skills can be handed down to future generations," said Park.

There was also room for improvement in terms of service at Korean restaurants.

"We need a service protocol on how we serve Korean food, such as the order in which foods come out. There also needs to be explanation on the food or on the course. Educating customers on how to eat is also an important service. It's not just about eating, it's about experiencing," said Jia Choi, president of O'ngo Food Communications, a food tour company.

"We need our own service manual to distribute along with menus including explanations of the food. Some foreigners also complain about the free and unlimited banchan (side dishes) saying the restaurants keep giving them beyond what they ordered. Then we can also think about more detailed issues such as eye contact with customers. Customized service is genuine service."