Lee, Eun-sang, Graduate School of Food Science
First participation in international contest representing Korea, confirmed possibilities for globalization of Korean food
[May 25, 2011]
"I prepared a western-style buffet so that it can be familiar to people from other countries, while maintaining the identity of Korean cuisine. The results were a success. Through this contest, I once again confirmed that what is Korean is global and I gained confidence."
Yeungnam University Graduate School of Food Science, (3rd term in master's degree course, 37, male)
Him and the rest of the Korean representatives won the bronze medal at the team contest in the Hong Kong International Cooking Contest (HKICC 2011) at the Hong Kong Convention Center lasting from the 11th to the 14th.
700 cooks from 15 countries particiapted in HKICC, which was held in connection with the 2011 Hong Kong Food Exposition (HOFEX 2011). These cooks selected to represent their respective countries faced off in live cooking, team cooking, and western cooking.
The team challenge, called 'The Gourmet Team Challenge' was given the mission to prepare a buffet for 30 guests. They were also required to make up the buffet with tapas, appetizers, soup, salad, main dish, and desserts. The participating teams were to prepare the ingredients and begin cooking at 5pm and complete everything up to table setting by 10am the next morning. The judges tasted the food afterwards, and then 30 guests who purchased tickets were given the opportunity to taste the dishes.
The six member 'Korean StarChef' Team made up of members who completed the Korean cuisine human resources fostering program sponsored by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. were chosen to represent Korea. They are talented chefs who were qualified to represent Korea through a contest held by the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp., who invited judges from WACS (World Association for Chefs Societies). WACS is the only organization that oversees world cooking contests, and thus, receiving medals from WACS is equivalent to being globally certified.
The Korean StarChef team decided to go with the 'most Korean, yet global' Korean menu. For this, using pine trees discovered while looking for a Korean motif, storytelling techniques were added in the cooking. Titled "Song-hak-rak-da" meaning 'enjoying a cup of tea under a pine tree', they prepared Korean ingredients to make menus including bibim (mixed vegetable with spicy sauce) noodle salad, gujeolpan (platter with nine tastes, and ma (a mountain herb) salad. Their strategy was effective. The judges said that 'They were dishes where we could feel the taste and charm of Korea', and thus won the bronze medal following Macao and China.
Lee, Eun-sang stated, "While preparing for the contest for the past six months, we worked together with the goal of globalizing Korean food, and so we are very happy to win the bronze medal." He added, "While watching the western judging process for food prepared in Korean style, I think I learned a bit on what kind of strategy to take on in international cooking contests such as the one to be held in Moscow in September. I hope that I can participate in more international competitions to become Korea's best chef, while also training students."
Korean StarChef Team (fourth from left, Lee, Eun-sang) who won the bronze at the 2011 Hong Kong International Cooking Contest
A spokesperson for the Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. stated, "This was an opportunity for Korean food coming one step closer to the tastes of the world, and is very significant in that it confirmed the possibilities of the globalization of Korean cooking."
