[KPOP]

By Marc Millon

More than 20 years ago, as a young and aspiring food writer working with my photographer wife Kim, we were commissioned to research and write a book that traced the history of my grandmother Bok Dok-sur, who had emigrated from Korea to Hawaii as a ``picture bride" in the 1920s.

Our aim was to explore culture and family through the subject of food, and both to research my grandmother's as well as my mother's favorite family-style Korean dishes, and to discover Korean food as enjoyed in Korean restaurants abroad and in Korea itself. The Seoul Olympic Games were about to happen and there was the deliciously exciting prospect of bringing an as yet still little known and appreciated cuisine that I love to a much wider public.

The Seoul Olympic Games were an undoubted immense success and the global perception of Korea was enhanced considerably and positively. Our book "Flavors of Korea, With Stories and Recipes From a Korean Grandmother's Kitchen" was published by Andre Deutsch, London, in 1991 and was well received.

Yet, surprisingly, the anticipated interest in and awareness about Korean cuisine has still not yet happened. Meanwhile, other Asian national cuisines ― Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian, for example ― have gained affectionate followings among diners around the world.

I am not in a position to comment on Korean cuisine globally, but I can offer my observations relating to the two countries that I have lived in most of my life, the United Kingdom, where I have lived and worked for over 30 years, and the United States, where I was raised, and where my Korean grandmother lived for her entire adult life.

Today more than two million Koreans live in or are settled permanently in the United States, and this number is compounded both by those Koreans who have subsequently become U.S. nationals, as well as by second- and third-generation Korean-Americans, born and raised in the country. It is amazing how quickly new immigrants assimilate into the American way of life. Yet, even a generation or two later, most still cling affectionately to the old country, not least through the foods that they eat and enjoy.

Today there are over 2000 Korean restaurants in the United States, located in cities with large Korean populations as well as in areas where Koreans have settled and made themselves a new home. In this way, Korean food has furthermore been introduced to intrepid and appreciative Western diners across the country, many of whom have come to enjoy and love this delicious cuisine.

In Britain, by contrast, there is proportionally a much smaller Korean community that has settled permanently in these islands. The Korean population here is currently estimated at 42,000. There is only a tiny number of Korean restaurants ― at present just 42 ― in the United Kingdom, not least, I imagine, because there has never been sufficiently large numbers of Koreans seeking a new life here or a large enough Korean resident community to support them.

An exception is the Kingston-upon-Thames and New Malden area of London. Home to an estimated 20,000 Koreans ― that is, almost half the Korean population within the United Kingdom ― this is the largest expatriate community of Koreans in Europe. To support this population, there are a number of Korean cafes and restaurants, as well as Korean supermarkets selling all the ingredients for home cooking. The clientele is mainly Korean, although increasingly Londoners make their way here to discover and enjoy the taste of delicious and authentic Korean foods.

New Malden, however, is an exception in the United Kingdom and Europe. Indeed, elsewhere throughout Britain, Korean restaurants are few and far between. Where I live in Devon, there is not a single Korean restaurant or supermarket, and I doubt if there are any in all of South West England.

And yet, I maintain that Korean food, though still little known to most, has the potential to become one of the next great food trends. If people could only encounter and try it, I am certain that they would love it. How could they not? But it goes without saying that Korean food will never become popular globally unless it becomes more widely available. How can this be achieved?

The creation of greater numbers of Korean restaurants, whether in the United Kingdom, the United States or in other European countries, will only happen if there is a pressing economic need, that is, if Korean immigrants see the opening of a family restaurant as a viable and profitable opportunity to make a living in their new home, wherever that may be. Will this happen? Or are most of the Koreans who choose to immigrate mainly highly educated, with professional skills and backgrounds that would preclude them considering such a profession?

Furthermore, the challenge is for existing as well as future Korean restaurants to reach beyond their traditional clientele of Korean, Japanese and other Asian diners to excite and inspire a new generation of Western diners to discover, enjoy and appreciate this unique and delicious cuisine.

There are so many appealing elements to Korean cuisine that could enable it to make this leap. Marinated meats cooked over charcoal are certainly a key element, and dishes such as bulgogi and galbi are universally loved by all. Other elements of Korean food are equally delicious: lightly steamed vegetables dressed in soy and sesame oil; grains, pulses and noodles; the enjoyment of wild foods gathered for free; and crunchy, fresh salads are all perfectly in tune with today's tastes and healthy eating habits, almost across the globe. And who doesn't love Korean pancakes, or jeon ― any variety of delicious fried foods, to dunk into tangy vinegar-and-soy dipping sauce called chojang?



Kimchi, meanwhile, stands in a class of its own, truly the soul of Korean cuisine. Some consider kimchi to be an acquired taste, but I can't understand this. What is there to acquire? Try kimchi once ― fiery, pungent, fermented winter kimchi; crunchy and fresh cucumber oisobagi; or a mild, soothing water kimchi ― and I guarantee that most will be hooked.

So, Korean cuisine has a great deal going for it. It is excitingly delicious ― and it is unique. The time is right for a concerted campaign to spread a positive message about Korean food around the world. This needs to happen at all levels.

On the one hand, many Korean restaurants that I have enjoyed and encountered in the United States and the United Kingdom could go a long way to making themselves more accessible to curious and adventurous Western diners, without necessarily needing to compromise on authenticity.

Language is often still a significant barrier and menus can be badly mistranslated or presented. Servers, too, need to be able to explain in a friendly and welcoming manner to help diners to understand the basic elements of a meal, Korean-style. Precisely because Korean food remains mainly unknown and undiscovered, restaurateurs need to work especially hard to make diners feel welcome and able to understand and appreciate the uniquely appealing Korean way of dining.

That is not to say that Korean restaurants should necessarily dumb down in order to reach a larger audience. But adapting to local, regional and national tastes ― as has happened with Indian restaurants in the United Kingdom and Chinese restaurants in the United States ― probably in many cases makes sound business sense.

Indeed, today Korean-American chefs are already beginning to bring Korean-inspired influences to cuisine at all levels, sometimes resulting in surprising fusion combinations. Acclaimed chef David Chang's Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York City takes the Korean concept of wrapping foods, or ssam, and, using impeccably sourced produce from local farms, to create a fusion of flavors that is inspired by Korea yet which is wholly American in ``melting pot" concept.

Similar examples are taking place elsewhere, notably in Southern California, as a new generation of young chefs and restaurateurs play, for example, with fusions of Korean and Mexican as they seek to take Korean food beyond its traditional clientele to reach a wider audience.

I have long maintained that the Korean love of accompanying drinking with an extensive array of delicious anju, or drinking snacks and nibbles, is matched only by the Andalusians of southern Spain with their great culture of tapas bars. Similarly, the exuberant and convivial Korean attitude to food and life in general has much in common with similar lifestyles elsewhere, notably Italy.

So it is not just about combining flavors into a new fusion cuisine, but also seeking to draw relationships between Korean cuisine and more mainstream foods already known and loved around the world.

Korean offerings still have a very long way to go before they can be considered mainstream. What more can and should be done? Until the number of Korean restaurants abroad increases, Korean food will remain mainly an occasional treat for intrepid Western diners simply because it is so rarely encountered. Yet, if the globalization of Korean food is an aim, then government-sponsored initiatives could help to spread a message that is positively delicious.

What steps would I like to see taken? Here are four specific suggestions:

1. Web site and forum: The Korean Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation (aT), the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Korea Tourism Organization should invest in an inspiring, informative, comprehensive Web site that becomes the official resource for everything and anything relating to Korean food. For example, a glossary of dishes, cooking terms, ingredients, recipes and a directory of Korean restaurants and food shops around the world.

This must not be a dull, dry official site. Rather it should be created with a vibrant sense of design that is reflected not only in the look of the site but also in the tone of the writing.

The site also should be multilingual, and native speakers should be appointed editors, charged with approving the translated copy to ensure that it is not only correct but also current and exciting. There should be an interactive Web-based forum where people can ask questions about Korean food, share recipes, etc. Again, the editors can oversee these sections.

2. Television: Korean food needs its own Madhur Jaffrey (who popularized Indian food in the United Kingdom and the United States) or Ken Hom (who did the same with Chinese food) to front a cable or network television show devoted not just to Korean food but also the culture.

The series should be filmed on location in Korea, not only introducing viewers to Korean foods and the relaxed and convivial Korean approach to eating and living, but also showing the natural beauty of the country, and highlighting history, culture and civilization.

3. Visiting chefs: The Korean government should sponsor a global tour of the country's top chefs to meet with and demonstrate Korean foods to other chefs around the world. Special dinners hosted by Korean dignitaries could be arranged with invited VIP guests to demonstrate the exciting and delicious quality of fine Korean cuisine.

4. Ambassadors: Korean food ambassadors should be officially appointed in strategic countries around the world. They should be enthusiastic and knowledgeable lovers of Korean food, who, working in conjunction with related state-run organizations, are able to communicate positively and enthusiastically about Korean food and culture through any number of initiatives. These could include appearing on radio and television, meeting with chefs and arranging special Korea Night dinners, meeting with supermarket CEOs to demonstrate some of the many Korean food products now available and generally being positive spokespeople to spread the word about the goodness of Korean food around the world.

These initiatives will not overnight change the global perception of Korean food, but they will go some way to help inform, excite and inspire diners around the world to discover one of the most delicious ― and still undiscovered ― cuisines in the world: Korean.

Marc Millon is an American food, wine and travel writer and author, as well as a new media consultant. Currently based in the United Kingdom, together with his wife and photographer/designer, Kim, Millon has produced a lot of creative work including "Flavors of Korea," one of the earliest overseas-published books to introduce the world to Korean food.