I have always been enamored with food. With flavors, with textures, with physiological effects of food, nutrition, with the complex alchemy of cooking, with different cultures' relations to food. I was also interested in learning recipes and more about Korean ingredients I always see at markets and wonder about. When I found out about this food tour for foreigners, I thought 'perfect. Culture, food, an emphasis on local and organic foods, connecting with like-minded individuals, travel, writing. What could be better?'
Hansik provided us with an extremely comfortable and luxurious weekend of taste-bud extravaganza brought to us by various high-caliber restaurateurs in the Jeollabukdo region of South Korea.
The experience proved to be olfactorily delightful. We got our hands dirty in the soil planting garlic, harvesting cabbage, and making kimchi. We sought out local ingredients at the market to make our own banchan dishes, trying to replicate what we'd eaten on our first night; we participated in the process of making tofu, of fermenting magkeoli, of butchering a chicken for our lunch, of staying in a traditional Hanok village, of marveling over the unique qualities of Korean food...
Everything I could have expected and more.
Some highlights of the tour:
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| Making Tofu (afterwards we were offered the milk leftover from the process - i.e. soymilk - very creamy, rich, smooth) |
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| Perilla seed |
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| Sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) Leaves, highly regarded for liver function, digestion, and cholesterol benefits |
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| Sunchoke (Jerusalem Artichoke) root itself. Crisp, delicious. |
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| These beauties are the banchan dishes we individually made for our breakfast |
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| Flat-fish skin gelatin! (according to the cook, "you'll never need botox if you eat this" ! |
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| Last lunch together - sushi, raw oysters, and cooked flounder |
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