By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
It's a dilemma and an uncomfortable truth. When it comes to the character of Korean cuisine, exuberant optimists and lukewarm skeptics surprisingly ``don't know enough about it'' to make accurate judgments.
Most of those who say kimchi is not accepted overseas don't even know how many kinds of it exist in Korea ― over 200. And a lot of those who say Korea lacks drinks such as wine to accompany its dishes have no idea what kind of traditional liquors and drinks the country has to offer.
And that's where critical conscientiousness begins for Charles Cointreau, the Asia director and head of Le Cordon Bleu Korea, a Korean unit of the French-based, acclaimed cooking school, on the globalization of Korean cuisine. In other words, Korean food, or "hansik," doesn't have "a robust identity yet."
``For the last 10 to 15 years, the government and companies here tried to press with technology, automobile, and what is called `Korean wave.' All of those have been very contemporary,'' he said. ``But to the contrary, Korean food is quite traditional, and there hasn't been a relationship made between historical and cultural preservation and the position of Korean food as part of national identity.''
Cointreau's first experience of Korean food was outside Korea. When the French director was studying in Australia, his Korean friends took him to his first Korean restaurant, the name of which he doesn't recall.
``It was not really authentic, Korean barbecue and buffet kind of stuff,'' Cointreau said. ``It was definitely my first experience with kimchi and the barbecue dishes, and I enjoyed it.''
As well as flavors, what impressed him about that night was what he referred to as ``the strong social concept'' in Korean food. ``When you are eating your food, it's really like a party thanks to the format the food is being served in. So it was a very enjoyable experience. It was something to have good time with, and you have got stories to tell,'' he said.
Even though the recognition of hansik might still be lower in other countries in comparison with other Asian cuisine, Korean food has been improving, according to Cointreau.
``I could definitely notice that when I went to a Korean restaurant in Paris not so long ago, from how the restaurant was delivering its food. It is not 100 percent, but about 90 percent of the ideal way of serving Korean food,'' he said, from what he knows about Korean cuisine after living in the country for some three years.
To Cointreau, what determines the recognition of a country's food culture is its history and cultural heritage. Some countries are very strong in defending the originality of their food culture; they try to conserve their heritage and various recipes. Not every country has the same level of commitment.
And in that regard, he says Korean food leaves something to be desired even though the country is inching toward the restoration of its culinary culture after shaking off the fetters of its modern history, marred with war and authoritarianism.
``Korea has had a rough history in the last century, and preserving its cultural heritage wasn't the top priority. Now Seoul is growing into an international city, but from a foreign perspective, I think the city is still missing its historical legacy,'' Cointreau said.
Still, he thinks the future can be positive for Korean food because, in that very sense of identification, Korea and its cuisine are full of potential. He became sure of this after personal research into the country's regional food and drink specialties to find out how French food can be matched with Korean drinks.
He said he found Korea has tremendous cultural heritage that can be unearthed to make the country's culinary culture much richer.
``I found out you do have regional specialties and delicacies, and a lot of them have substantial strength and identity,'' he said.
The affluence of Korean drinks doesn't lag much behind that of French wine, according to Cointreau, a direct descendant of the founder of the world-famous French alcohol manufacturer Cointreau, now part of Remy-Cointreau after a merger with another French maker, Remy Martin.
``In France, different regions have different kinds of wine. I am not saying it should be done in the same way here, but it could be an inspiration for promoting Korea's beverages, for example,'' he said. ``You have Andong soju, and some drinks in other regions are of good quality.''
Like some of those interviewed by The Korea Times, Cointreau has a firm view that more educated chefs need to advance overseas and that major efforts are needed to create food products matching the quintessence of Korean food. In that regard, he believes it could be a dangerous approach to focus on mass marketing because it could prevent people overseas from experiencing what hansik is really about.
``You have to get into the market with the best you can offer to impress the customers,'' he said. ``And too much focus on the mass market and globalization could overshadow the heart of Korean culinary culture,'' he added.
All in all, it's a matter of culture. It's important to go back to basics and tradition for the globalization of Korean food, he says, because no one knows how the current trend in Korean food ― mostly represented as spicy and stimulating flavors ― will last and work on the global stage, and it's a good time to finally succeed at trying something new and more creative in culinary culture here.
``I don't believe any cuisine in the world will be still the same in the future. It is constantly evolving,'' Cointreau said. ``I know some countries are very active in creatively trying to develop their own identity and culture. And that's what I hope for Korean food ― try to make it more creative, more evolving.''