OT: Korean Kaiseki
Gerry
expensive. It's the apex of Japanese food, and usually includes both
sushi/sashimi, so that part is on-topic.
I went to an old sushi place I knew from 20 years ago and where I have
very fond memories. It was pretty good, but every (sushi) piece was a
bit overwrought with yuzu, wasabi relish, ponzu, sesame sauce, garlic
chips, et al. I kidded him about his creations saying they were more
French than Japanese. Actually, I think he appreciated that.
Eventually I twisted his arm enough for him to tell me he was from
Seoul, but it wasn't easy. The lunch crowd was now gone and it was me,
the sushi chef, and the waitress who seemed to be the manager as well.
I waxed poetic about the wonderful Korean restaurants in Garden Grove
(the Korean enclave hereabouts) so he wouldn't feel that I was
prejudice or anything. Which I suppose I am, when they are producing
Japanese food.
I said, by way of compliment, that I loved all the food I had in Korean
restaurants, because I like their pickled foods, and hearty food but
found no sophisticated cuisine there. The eavesdropping waitress told
me there was a Korean equivalent of kaiseki. She wrote it down in her
quazi-cursive hangul as well as the romaji version. I asked her to
print the hangul more carefully and she obliged. I've fiddled with
hangul but haven't been able to re-create her spelling.
It kinda looks like this: 한징식
She called the cuisine "Han Jung Shik". Hangul manipulation has
produced something closer to "Han Jing Sig". I don't really care how
it's spelled I just want to try to run some of it down in Los Angeles,
so the spelling might be helpful in searches. Any ideas of what it's
really called or where to get it?
--
Dogmatism kills jazz. Iconoclasm kills rock. Rock dulls scissors.