This month, Drexel University's Hospitality Management, Culinary and Food Science program kicked off a class dedicated to the fine art of Korean cuisine. According to assistant professor Jeehyun Lee, the program is among the first in the United States to offer a course focused solely on Korean food.
Although Lee is Korean, chef Adrienne Hall and the rest of Drexel's culinary staff had little direct experience with the intricacies of the Korean table. "I'd tasted kimchi, but that was about it," said Hall. "Everything we've been learning from Jong Im Lee has been a surprise. It's been a challenge, because I can't automatically assume anything, or apply my cooking experience to Korean cooking. It just doesn't translate."
Jong Im Lee, a popular television chef in Korea, is also director of the Korea Food and Culture Research Center and president of the Soodo Cooking Institute in Seoul. She came to town, along with her daughter, chef Bokyung Park, for a few weeks to school the Drexel top chefs on the ins and outs of Korean cooking.
Her visit was funded by the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation and Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Republic of Korea, which are proactively promoting a better understanding of Korean gastronomy in the West and globally.
Speaking through Drexel's Jeehyun Lee as an interpreter, Jong Im Lee acknowledged a few of the common misconceptions that exist about her native cuisine.
"People think Korean food is only spicy. That isn't true," she said. The chile was introduced to Korea in the 17th century, and spread across the globe by Portuguese and Spanish merchants as they conquered the New World. Korean royalty traditionally avoided hot and spicy food, instead dining on intricate dishes powered by much more subtle flavors.
