Lee Wook Jung and His Food Journey Around the World
In an interview with The Korea Herald published on Sunday, KBS Producer Lee Wook Jung revealed that he got interested in food at a young age. His parents, particularly his father - who is Chinese - contributed to his interest for gourmet food.
"He didn't eat a lot, but he liked expensive, fine foods," Lee said. "If we were at a Chinese restaurant, it was always course meals. Money was no object with food."
Lee said that his experiences made him the person he is right now. He also described himself as "a storyteller who specializes in food."
While taking his master's degree in cultural anthropology, his interest for food was sparked again due to a thesis on illegal Muslim Bangladeshi workers in Korea and their concepts of "symbolic resistance." One of these was 'halal', which means lawful or permitted food.
"Koreans were above them socioeconomically, but in (the workers') minds Koreans were dirty because they ate polluted foods." He went on, "(That experience) showed me how important food was in defining who we are in contrast to others. It's more than just nutrition."
Lee also said that he wants to do something different from the usual.
"Food is normally considered a very light topic in Korean TV documentaries, and most of them were about only Korean food. I wanted to do something that compared cultures, outside the frame of Korean food."
He stated that the strengths of Korean cuisine would be determined by examining the components of food from other countries.
"Take kimchi for example. Korea is not the only country with the culture of salting vegetables and fermenting them. When you know that, you see the value of kimchi."
He continued, "Everyone's discovered that vegetables can be kept longer and taste better when they're salted. But kimchi adds more layers to that, which is why it's garnering interest around the world."
"You have to be able to see the advantages other cuisines have in order to see the strengths of Korean cuisine."
An article published on Korea Joongang Daily last June 25 revealed that Lee completed basic, intermediate, superior levels of cuisine training and pastry course in London for two years.
Lee was best known for his food-related documentary, "Noodle Road," that won a Peabody Award. The television program debuted on December 7, 2008 and aired its final episode last March 29, 2009.
Aside from that, he produced "Food Odyssey," which was released last year. For this food-related series, Lee visited over 20 nations and featured some of their exotic and interesting dishes as well as the stories behind the food.
