I was born and grew up in Korea but now live in San Francisco with my American husband.
Growing up in Korean country side as the eldest daughter in the family means
a lot of house work and cooking was what I most enjoyed.
This childhood favorite house core has grown into a big part of my life.
After moving to US, I attended a culinary school and started my chef career
at a local country club. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to work under an
Austrian-born master chef Fritz Gitschner. I wanted to become a chef cooking
the best western food and spent many many extra working hour horning
french cooking technique. At the same time,chef Gitschner taught me about
the importance of regional food and gave me many opportunities to develop
Korean food and some of them were actually included on the menu.
I moved on to work at a renowned Michelin starred restaurant again with
an intention to become a fabulous French food cooking chef.
Usually,I was the only Korean chef in kitchens and those extremely
intelligent American and French chefs kept asking me about Korean food
cooking technique or ingredients..etc.
This experience enlightened me to see food of where I came from on a totally different perspective.
took Korean royal cuisine cooking class. How ironic is it? When I lived in Korea,
I took Korean food for granted like air.
Now I live in US and finally learn to appreciate the food of my country.
When cooking French, Italian, or Japanese,I feel happy about how my food
tastes but it is when I cook Korean food bringing me beyond culinary spectrum, a sense of totally being myself.
Koreans believe that food is the most important medicine to your health.
I can only hope that my Korean food brings you happy and healthy life.
Geon bae!!!
