Dae Jang Geum

Hands fly cutting meat and slicing vegetables, while sugar, salt and soy sauce are added in exact amounts, expertly done without even looking. “Daejanggeum,” a period TV drama about a woman who serves at a palace cooking for the royal family during the Joseon Dynasty, is drawing hungry eyes of viewers with table after table beautifully set with exquisite royal cuisine.

Behind every scene on the drama is Han Bok-ryo, the successor to Hwang Hye-seong who was awarded the title of Important Intangible Cultural Properties 38. Hwang is also Han’s mother. Han, president of the Institute of Korean Royal Cuisine, painstakingly goes over the tiniest details of every dish from the ingredients to utensils and the way the dishes are set and served.

“Keeping to the traditional recipes and ingredients, while making the food look intriguing and enticing for people today, certainly is not an easy job. Food now looks and tastes more Western. Referring to the historical records and documents is not enough to recapture the recipes,” said Han.

She is pleased that royal cuisine has been brought into spotlight, a field to which she has devoted almost her entire adult life. Han has been at her mother’s side since Hwang taught students at several colleges. Hwang apprenticed under Han Heui-soon, one of the last court ladies of Joseon period who served at the royal kitchen.

The institute was established in 1971 when Hwang was designated as the sole holder of intangible cultural properties title for royal cuisine for her endeavors to carry on the traditional food culture. Han said, “I feel responsible as my mother’s successor to hand down the tradition from generation to generation.”

To make royal cuisine available to a broader public, she started Jihwaja, a restaurant specializing in royal cuisine restaurant, in 1990. Han is determined to share her knowledge and skills with those who are willing to learn. “This is not a family matter anymore. It is about the country’s tradition and culture. I have devoted my whole life to carrying on the legacy but more professional and more academic institutes should be created,” she said.

“I believe every culture has to treasure its traditions related to food as many aspects are melted into it. Food has begun to be treated as a culture subject only recently,” said Han. This explains why books on art, color and history are scattered about her small study. She confessed she was quite bad at history at school but as she dug more into the royal cuisine she became deeply involved in learning history.

“Food cannot be separated from its historical context, especially royal cuisines. Royal cuisines are the epitome of food from a particular period as countless people devoted their lives to serving meals to the king. Korean food these days draw on too much seasoning that overpowers the original flavor of the ingredients. Royal cuisines are different in that it calls attention to every ingredient, seasoning each one separately.” she added.

Han, 58, said her life-long dream is building an institute large enough to house an academy and a permanent exhibition of traditional cuisine and related utensils, equipments and documents. The traditional hanok building next to Changdeok Palace that currently houses her institute is undergoing renovations to build a bigger kitchen for cooking classes.

“Royal cuisine should not remain a relic of the past. I want to bring it out and have its cultural value recognized by the younger generations of Korea and people of other countries,” she said.

Source: The Korea Herald, by Hwang You-mee, on October 23, 2003