2009 a year of food hits, misses

This was the year that Korean food was going to make its debutante debut. Restaurant industry seers Baum & Whiteman predicted Korean food would hit it big in 2009. It did make some headway, but not in the way the public and private Korean food promoters on the peninsula predicted.

Despite wasting money in changing the names of traditional snack foods, full-page ads in American newspapers and promoting the expensive, pretentious side of Korean food in the middle of a worldwide recession, these efforts created more wrinkled eyebrows than wows. Korean food did pick up in popularity with street food galbi tacos, good ol` barbecue and the humble makgeolli. The words "topokki" and "Ricetard" joined "well-being" as Korea`s most cringe-inducing culinary vocabulary disasters.



Ethnic restaurants multiplied while Korean cuisine modernized. The roti bun trend faded as cupcake cafes increased. Brunch was still the price gouge of choice. Thanks to Omer Yilmaz, Turkish kebabs spread from Itaewon to Jongno to suburban department stores. The boneless samgyetang entered the repertoire of fine dining through the efforts of chefs

Edward Kwon, Ciaran Hickey and Sungsoo "Eddie" Ahn. Chef Kwon put on his Gordon Ramsey toque to judge the Korean reality TV chef competition "Yes Chef" while local expat favorite "Star Chef" Kim Hu-nam made appearances on Korean and American televisions.



The H1N1 flu panic brought more sanitation practices to the food industry -- even though temporarily -- such as hand sanitizers for customers and layers of plastic over baked goods. The flu scare didn`t prevent first lady Kim Yoon-Ok from cooking pajeon for Korean War veterans in New York. It didn`t scare the professional gagmen of "Infinite Challenge" from promoting bibimbap in The New York Times with a great picture that unfortunately associated the dish with funerals through more awkward English.

Industry gurus still predict the ongoing popularization of Korean food through 2010, though it`s showing signs of fading on the American west coast. Expect to see international chefs playing with new forms of kimchi. Korean tacos will appear on chain restaurant menus. Gochujang will be the cool new condiment while Korean fried chicken hits middle America.

On Korean shores, cupcakes will become more fashionable, possibly inspiring an increase in home baking. Watch for these keywords in the coming year: Indian, gorgonzola, kebabs, Uzbek, macarons, ceviche, cocktails, culinary tourism, burgers, pastrami and tacos.



Here is the year in Korean food for 2009.



Good bye mad cow:

The end of food scares



The year 2008 was full of food panics, from American beef to melamine. The following year opened with the tail end of the contaminated peanut butter recall. No food-related alert in 2009 matched anything from 2008.



Korean food gets popular, despite Seoul`s "support"



From February on, the American food media fell in love with Kogi`s street galbi tacos. L.A. held its first Korean BBQ festival. Bette Midler made kimchi and Paris Hilton named her dog after it.



Government`s awkward Korean food promotion



In March, it tried to change ddeokbokki into topokki for a global audience. In April, the "Korean Cuisine to the World" campaign aimed to make Korean food in the top five, even though no such ranking exists. The October "World Feast for Gastronomy" neglected English speakers and confused guest chefs.



Ricetard: More English embarrassment for Korea



In March, Lotte introduced a snack cake that created a new embarrassment and unintentional racial slur. It was mysteriously pulled from the market after the name gained international fame.



American TV shows feature Korean food



In April, Travel Channel`s "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" had a blast with live octopus. "Gourmet`s Diary of a Foodie" explored royal court cuisine. "Three Sheets" partied and drank.



Tomatillo`s too successful Cinco di Mayo party



Tomatillo hosted a "Fifth of May" party. Almost every Westerner in Korea showed up at the door.



Rustic rice beer: Makgeolli becomes a sleeper hit



In May, news stories rocketed on recession weary consumers in Korea rediscovering the rustic rice beer. Japan made it a fad. Trendy makgeolli cocktail bars became hot spots.



Out with the old ?: Korean goes contemporary



In June, Ciaran Hickey created a stellar modernized Korean tasting menu at the W Seoul Hotel. Im Jeong-sik brought Korean food into the molecular gastronomy era at Jeong Sik Dang. Edward Kwon replaced pretension with flavor in upscale Korean food at Eddy`s Cafe.



North Korean burgers, well burgers of a sort



In July, Pyongyang opened its first fast-food restaurant, serving no decadent American hamburgers but "minced beef and bread."



BBGO-ing to America



In December, CJ Foodville announced its first foray into the American restaurant market by exporting its Cafe Sobahn chic bibimbap concept as BBGO.



Joe McPherson runs the popular website www.zenkimchi.com - Ed.







By Joe McPherson