59th French Cooking Maestro Advices Sophistication in Korean Cuisine
Global Star Chef Praises Togetherness, Quickness of 'Hansik' Dishes
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Let the skeptics stay in their realm of suspicion ― the global fan base for Korean food or hansik is ever broadening. From
teenage fans of Korean pop songs and dramas to even some Hollywood celebrities, Korean cuisine is expanding the boundaries of its supporters slow and steady.
But does the same saying apply to famed exports from cultural backgrounds other than Asia, especially if it's an already accomplished cooking master at the top of the class?
Pierre Gagnaire, a French chef treated as a virtuoso, said hansik might need some sophistication in becoming an ``haute cuisine,'' but it also has huge potential to better appreciated by those devoted to good food across the globe.
``At the end of the day, I don't think Korean food is a very trendy kind of cuisine. It's more like a laid-back and congenial 'ajeossi' figure,'' Gagnaire told The Korea Times in an e-mail interview, comparing hansik with a mature man. ``It comes to me as mixed impressions of delicious, hot and spicy, healthy and a bit rustic.''
Believe it or not, the star chef even makes his own kimchi to be used in his nouvelle French dishes.
``Kimchi is a very interesting item to me. It looks simple at first sight, but everything in it composes a delicate harmony. Tastes and scents also get all varied in the process of fermenting,'' Gagnaire said.
``Several times I made it for myself ― to be less spicy and with less seasoning, but still combined with that sour twist ― and served it with fish dishes. And customers were so happy with the `marriage.' I hope to continue such attempts with it in my work.''
Like many other westerners, the 59-year-old Gagnaire chef finds it interesting that the food has distinctive features from many other cuisines from his side of the world, as in when he had his first taste of Korean food at a hansik restaurant in Paris about a decade ago.
``I had some Korean barbecue back then. The ambience was cozy, and the way people ate their dishes felt quite unique to me because they really shared the dishes served on huge plates and that's something that simply doesn't happen in western restaurants,'' Gagnaire said.
The Frenchman, who hadn't previously had much connection with the isolated Asian country, has visited South Korea several times since 2008, when he launched a Korean branch of his namesake restaurant chain.
And now he says his feelings toward Korean food changes every time he comes here, probably because there are always new and different dishes to try. In addition, he also seems to have found an interesting edge in Korean food.
``Korean food basically has a great nutritional balance, and its serving style of putting many plates of dishes on one table enables customers to relish different flavors altogether in a short time,'' he said.
``For the same amount of French dishes, it would take time two or three times longer to eat.
``Such a quick set of healthy dishes might offer an interesting marketing point to other parts of the world.''
On the opposite side, however, Korean food has a distance to go before it becomes high-end cuisine.
``In my truly personal opinion, Korean food falls short of sophisticated touches in spite of its exquisite flavors and nutritional value,'' he said. ``Every time I eat it, there is always this lingering feeling that something is missing. And a lot of dishes strike me as executed in a somewhat rough and crude manner.''
Such a candid opinion is not likely to crumble the fame Gagnaire has built so far. The head chef and owner of the eponymous three Michelin-starred Pierre Gagnaire Restaurant, Gagnaire is named as an iconoclastic chef who led the forefront of the fusion movement.
The Paris restaurant was ranked third in last year's edition of the world's 50 greatest restaurants by the U.K.-based restaurant magazine.
Specializing in modern French, his works elicits amazement by deconstructing the conventions of classic French cooking by introducing jarring juxtapositions of tastes and textures of ingredients.
In his home turf, recognition is still low in general about hansik in reflection of France's lack of understanding about the country, but a growing number of places are showing an improvement in the situation, according to Gagnaire.
``There used to be only some five Korean restaurants in Paris in two decades ago. Now there are over 40 that I know of,'' he said.
His thinking went through a revision on his latest visit, as he found some new hansik creations with modernized touches. More creative attempts to mix tradition with modernism will be necessarily to further improve Korean cuisine, he said.
Gagnaire is also taking a positive stance on the government-led campaign to globalize Korean food because ``nothing is bad in trying to promote good dishes,'' but he refrains from suggesting a certain policy direction.
``I'd rather recommend making diversified efforts. Some could be inclined to stick to originality and others could be interested in bending it,'' he said.
But the chef didn't forget to mention one thing he believes is important about food promotion ― a change in public recognition of what they have. In that regard, Gagnaire completely stands with other experts who point out that a lot of people still appear to be trapped in ``self-deprecation.''
``What I couldn't really understand during my Korean visits was that many local people willingly spend a substantial sum of money on western dishes like pastas or sandwiches, but appear to believe it's a waste to spend the same on Korean ones,'' Gagnaire said. ``I don't really think the time and effort spent on cooking bibimbap or doenjangjjigae (soybean paste stew) is less than that for western food.
``I am not sure if they truly believe hansik dishes are not worth being posh, or it's just that they take for granted what they have. But all I can say about it is, no cuisine can be globally favored if they are not respected at home,'' he added.