I read this interesting article the other day about globalizing Korean food:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2009/07/146_47414.html
I don't know if this is badly translated, but so much of it is baffling. I've never heard of this guy before, but apparently he's some kind of bigshot in Korea?
"To most people here, Korean food is nothing more than what they have at most mealtimes and they consider it a waste of money to try different and pricier Korean dishes," he said. "How can we expect our own food to be promoted on the global stage when it's still left out in the cold at home?"
Are we even talking about the same country here?
"Even back in history, food has actually never been at the center of Korean culture," he pointed out. "And to make it worse, Korea has lost a lot of its cultural legacies during the drastic industrial growth in its modern history, as in the traditional liquors that had to be lurking in the shadow throughout the authoritarian period."
This is nearly gibberish to me, but hasn't Korean food pretty much ALWAYS been at the center of the culture?
But he seems to think the way for Korean food to gather interest worldwide is for it to go high-end, experimental, and expensive. Then it will garner respect, and people will want to eat it. And first! it should do this in Korea, and get Korean people behind it.
Is it just me or does this seem like a very odd way to spread Korean food around the world? By starting with expensive Korean restaurants IN KOREA? Hello?
If they really wanted it to spread around the world, they should do better at getting in the hands and mouths of people around the world who already want to eat it. And then those people will pass on their love for Korean food to their friends, and so on and so on, and then before you know it, you have a culinary sensation.
But what do I know?
