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Korean Food Globalization
Asian cuisine, and Korean food in particular, is notoriously difficult to pair with wine. Even wine-lovers agree that beer is easier on the palate, as it combats the ever-present chilli peppers and compliments the potent flavours without neutralising them. What’s more, wine doesn’t play a large role in Korean dining culture. Even...
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The opening of “the next Korean barbecue restaurant” in midtown Manhattan by K-pop star and producer Jin Young Park has generated some controversy. Some think the restaurant’s aesthetic is too antiseptic to provide an authentic Korean experience. Some reviews have viciously criticized the atmosphere, exemplified...
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Banchan is as intrinsic to 한식 hansik (Korean food) as pork is to Spanish cuisine. It would be anathema to have one without the other. A Korean restaurant without 반찬 banchan might be called a Chinese or Mongolian restaurant by the culinary illiterate. Even if a Korean restaurant has mediocre banchan, the idea of not offering it at...
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Let’s get the obligatory prefacing out of the way. I know there’s a cadre of people who say I shouldn’t say anything negative on this blog, especially if it’s about Korean cuisine. They say I’m condescending. They say I don’t know what I’m talking about. They say that despite living in...
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There are times I think the promoters of Korean food really have their heads firmly stuck in their posteriors when they promote makkolli as a rice wine. It shows an ignorance of makkolli, an ignorance of wine, and an ignorance of alcohol in general.
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Okay, so now we’re seeing what the government’s spending spree to K-pop producers’ pockets is producing. Brace yourselves. I present the Wondergirls with “K-Food Party.”
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This video has been picking up steam. It’s an ad campaign by Mr. Pizza under the guise of Gumshoe Pictures. I have a feeling that the American offices came up with this one. With all the push to market Korean food overseas, I think this campaign gets it. It’s not over the top. It has humor. The humor is...
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Anyone who has been in Korea for a while notices that rules and laws tend to be suggestions. For the longtimers, we have a love-hate attitude towards this. Yes, the taxi may run the red light, but doing so gets you to your destination faster. Things get done quickly in Korea. Sometimes there are flaws. But the other extreme is a...
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BWA HA HA HA HA HA! Check this out: On September 5, the Korean Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries announced that Wonder Girls are appointed as the new ambassador of Korean food. The Ministry hopes that Wonder Girls will help make the taste and the brilliance of Korean food more well-known in foreign countries....
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You’d think they’d learn, but they’re getting even more out of touch and even more comical–almost offensively so. Take this very sleek tourism ad highlighting Korea’s food scene. Now one of the strengths that international writers praise about Korea’s food scene is its excitement and energy. This...
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