French charcuterie meets Korean gourmet

French Ambassador to Korea Fabien Penone speaks during a reception at his residence in Seoul on June 28 to mark the occasion of the “Discover Charcuteries” event that featured six charcuterie producers from France. / Courtesy of the French Embassy

By Rachel Lee

France, a country with undeniably great food and culture, has brought a culinary specialty to Korea for the France-Korea Year that marks 130 years of friendship.

A range of charcuterie, prepared meats such as sausages and pates, was on show at the “Discover Charcuteries” event that featured six producers from the European country.

In France, there are about 250 companies exporting these goods — worth over 300 million euro — to 70 countries.

“Charcuterie is very important in the French cuisine and gastronomy, which foreigners discover during their touristic or business trips to France,” French Ambassador to Korea Fabien Penone said at a reception at his residence in Seoul on June 28 to mark the occasion.

The history of charcuterie goes back to ancient times. Commonly made with pork, the meat is chopped, salted and cooked slowly until it becomes tender. Salting and smoking were used to preserve it for a long period of time back then. Now, over 400 products are available in France.

The ambassador said French charcuterie had not had much promotion in Korea, but that was changing.

“The opening of the Korean market is very recent,” he said. “The procedures for importation were finalized at the end of 2013.”

French Minister for Food Industry Guillaume Garot came to Seoul then to celebrate the market’s opening.

“I think that the word ‘charcuterie’ is not yet known in Korea,” Penone said. “I hope that we will together make this word enter the Korean vocabulary.”

“I also commend the French businesses in the sector of charcuterie attending tonight and who wish to develop their activities in Korea. We are helping them to obtain the approval to export to Korea. Communications campaigns will also be launched in Korea because our products of charcuterie will develop in the Korean market in time.”

Tallec Export Manager Marie Pushparajalingam said: “I feel Koreans are open to experience new things, which gives a lot of potential for us. We hope that our high-quality products become a trend here and one that represents European culture.”

Tallec, established in 1947 as a pig slaughterer, is recognized as a premium charcuterie maker nationwide, specializing in traditional French terrine, pork liver terrine and bacon. Terrines are a mixture of minced meat or seafood and vegetables.

According to the French Embassy, all the products are made under the country’s strict food quality control standards.

The embassy co-organized the promotion with the French Federation of Industrial Deli Meat Producers, Delicatessens and Meat Processors and France AgriMer as part of celebrations for the Year of France in Korea, which continues until the end of the year.

Some of the highlights have included the exclusive creation of Jose Montalvo with the National Dance Company of Korea, and French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac’s installation, “King of Signs,” surrounding the statue of King Sejong the Great in the capital.