Time to add sophistication to hansik: Gagnaire

French chef Pierre Gagnaire is noted for his specialty in inventing creative modern French cuisine with local ingredients.

Gagnaire isn`t new to Korean food. He has a branch of his own restaurant, Pierre Gagnaire, at Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul. Here, the dishes are made using 70 percent local ingredients like "doenjang" (fermented soybean paste) and "samgyeopsal" (belly pork) in his menu.

"Korean cuisine is now better known to the world compared to the past. Although hansik still has rough and direct sides to it, it does also have factors that can attract the world`s attention - it is light, good for your health and suitable to have for gatherings," said the Michelin three-star chef in a recent interview with The Korea Herald.

Along with kimchi, the chef picked "bibimbap," or rice mixed with vegetables, as his favorite Korean food.

Familiarity appears to be a reason for that. "I actually think that bibimbap is a very fun and interesting dish. It is similar to pot au feu, French soup popularly eaten among family (meals) where we boil all the materials all together," he said.



In the interview which took place prior to Amazing Korean Table, Gagnaire added that he and the other three chefs - Massimo Bottura, Cory Lee and Luke Dale Roberts - all agreed to aim at creating dishes that people can enjoy joyfully and comfortably," he added.

"Amazing Korean Table" was a gourmet event co-hosted by the Korea Tourism Organization and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, where top-rated foreign chefs attempted to reinterpret hansik with their own colors. It ended its four-day run Nov. 1.

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The maestro chef believes that it is time for hansik to take a leap, to aim for sophistication to better appeal to international tastes. He said to do this hansik would need some twists or style added to it.

Examples would include using beef cheek rather than the usual sirloin or tenderloin, or adding lemon, soju (a Korean spirit), or omija berries to beef carpaccio, or serving kimchi and potato with cooked meat, Gagnaire said.

In order to globalize hansik, Gagnaire said decorating and developing hansik based on its tradition is very important. He added that cooking is not so much about following the recipes as creating methods of expression.

Gagnaire said he is very glad and thinks it is desirable and meaningful that the Korean government is publicizing the country through its cuisine, not other industries like cars or fashion.

"Through food or cooking, we can host diverse events or parties which can work as chances for people to meet and socialize with each other," he said.

For this reason Gagnaire said he was more than glad to participate in "Amazing Korean Table." Alongside three other top-tier chefs, Gagnaire presented some unique and unprecedented Korean dishes.



The list included French-style kimchi and foie gras toast; doenjang-sauce shellfish and "hanwoo" (Korean beef) carpaccio; and goat`s cheese and herb salad with black garlic sauce, which have also previously been introduced at his Seoul restaurant.

The foie gras toast places thin-sliced square-shaped kimchi on a small piece of foie gras. The kimchi used for the dish was specially made by Gagnaire, who wanted to make it more sour and crispy. Salted cabbage was fermented for two weeks after being mixed with lemon skin and pepper powder.

The shellfish and hanwoo carpaccio is served with Gagnaire`s unique doenjang sauce, which was made more like a salad dressing by mixing doenjang with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

The goat`s cheese and herb salad puts a scoop of goat`s cheese on fermented black garlic sauce. Green-colored herbs and red pepper powder are sprinkled around the cheese to achieve a harmony of both taste and color.

"These dishes do not differ largely from Korean cuisine apart from the fact that I made them and how they are displayed," the chef said.

(youngaah@heraldm.com)



By Koh Young-aah