'Three Meals a Day' kicks off new season

"Three Meals a Day — Jeongseon"

By Kim Jae-heun

Television producer Na Young-seok's third spin-off of his popular cooking show "Three Meals a Day" premiered on cable TV channel tvN on Friday night.

The new season, "Three Meals a Day ― Jeongseon," is set in a rural village in Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province, where cast members such as Lee Seo-jin, OK Taec-yeon and Kim Kwang-kyu prepare meals using only locally grown ingredients.

"Nature itself is incredible," said Na during a press conference at the Digital Magic Space (DMS) Building in Sangam-dong, Seoul, Wednesday. "I wanted to show the audience how hard it is to harvest the materials for our daily meals that can now be easily purchased at supermarkets near our homes."

Unlike other cooking programs that provide mouth-watering food made in fancy kitchens, "Three Meals a Day" shows that cast members can create meals using food from the village.

In this new season, Na has planned a four-month project that depicts the whole process of growing food, from cultivation to harvest. Cast members are also not allowed to buy materials and must rely on farming.

"Lee and Ok discussed what to grow," Na said. "There is a huge cornfield, where we are planning to raise some 10,000 ears of corn. Lee wants to grow potatoes, too, as they are a specialty of Gangwon Province."

The show's first series was also in Jeongseon. The two-month project had 11 episodes that aired last fall and winter.

Season two of "Three Meals a Day" starred Cha Seung-won, Yoo Hae-jin and Son Ho-jun, and was set in a fishing village on the remote island of Manjae. Cha was popular with viewers, who admired his cooking skills using only limited materials and utensils. The show received a record-high 14.2 percent TV rating.

"We will regularly invite guests to eat dinner together," Na said. "Cha may visit us some time later, but not in the early episodes. I want to focus on highlighting the beauty of Jeongseon first."

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