By Cho Mu-hyun
Former Major League pitcher Park Chan-ho’s wife is to share a penchant for preparing food in her own TV program about cooking.
She is to star in a program called “Homemade Cook by Park Ri-hye” on the cooking channel O’live and reveal recipes she prepared for her husband-pitcher before his games.
A third generation Korean-Japanese, Park Ri-hye graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and was an intern in top-class restaurants, Pierre Orsi in France and Chez Panisse in the United States.
She is known to have enjoyed studying recipes since middle school and is a reputable expert in Korean, French and Japanese dishes. She has taught in Japan and wrote extensively about cooking and has previously published a book titled “Rie’s Kitchen” (Korean title, Ri-hye’s Major Food Table).
She was offered the job by O’live TV and accepted the position following her arrival in Korea with her husband who is currently training with his new team the Hanwha Eagles in Arizona.
“My Korean is still clumsy and I hope people forgive me,” she said. “I hope what we (her family) really eat at home helps the viewers.”
She added that her husband has been greatly supportive in her decision to host the program. She also plans to tell anecdotes about the star pitcher and their time together in the United States and Japan.
The program debuted on Feb. 7 and will run every Tuesday at 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. for eight weeks.