Flavours of Korea Book

This delightful and personal cookbook introduces the Western reader to a varied, popular and always lively national cuisine. Korean food, with its emphasis on fresh, crunchy salads; lightly steamed and dressed vegetables; rice, beans and noodles; and marinaded charcoal-grilled meats, fish and poultry, is a diet perfectly suited to the tastes and the the health-conscious concerns of diners and adventurous cooks today. About one hundred and fifty easy-to-follow recipes teach the home cook the secrets of a hitherto little known cuisine. There are recipes for classics such as pajon (scallion pancake), bulgogi (soy-and-sesame marinaded beef), chapchae (a delicious noodle and vegetable medley), pimbimpap (a one-dish mixture of rice and any assortment of cultivated and wild vegetables and roots), and of course kim chi in all its fiery manifestations. This is not a book, however, that tries slavishly to recreate Korean foods as enjoyed yesterday or today in Korea. Third-generation Korean Marc Millon, author of numerous book on food and wine in France, Italy, Spain, Britain and elsewhere, understands the difficulties of recreating local and national foods outside of context or country. Not only are ways of eating very different, there can also be difficulties in getting the full range of authentic ingredients and foodstuffs. This book, therefore, also includes second- and third-generation Korean recipes, refined and perfected by the author, who learned them from both his Korean grandmother, Bok Dok Sur, and from his mother Korina Kim.Above all, the overriding criteria in recipe selection is that the end results are delicious and give a true flavour of of an exciting country and cuisine. Flavours of Korea is written for both the practical cook and the armchair cook. Illustrated with Kim Millon's superb photographs and line drawings, it tells not only of the tastes but also of the sights, sounds and traditions of town and country. Much more than just a cookbook, it is based on thorough knowledge, personal experiences and journal notes from their own travels in Korea, and on stories and recipes recounted by Marc's octogenarian Korean grandmother. Above all, it is a culinary journey into a vividly different but always delicious culture and country.Read More