A salad made with doenjang soybean paste.
Agar weed noodles made with a pine nut extract and a soy sauce broth.
These are just two of the delicious items featured at a promotional booth for Korean cuisine, or Hansik, at the Madrid Fusion 2017 fair, one of the world's top gourmet food festivals.

At the 14th Madrid Fusion, which took place from Jan. 23 to 25, the Korean Food Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs worked together to introduce new menu items that they jointly developed, under the theme of “Korean food, a rendezvous with fresh vegetables and fermented condiments.” The dishes all make use of fermented condiments, such as doenjang soybean paste or gochujang red pepper paste. This is now the fourth time for the Korean Food Foundation to participate in the gourmet food festival, where in previous years it has introduced seaweed varieties and Buddhist temple cuisine.

During this year’s three-day festival, the foundation introduced a series of dishes that use fermented condiments, such as a salad made with crispy vegetables, like cabbage and lettuce, which are mixed with doenjang soybean paste, or agar weed noodles made with a savory pine nut extract and a soy sauce broth, or cucumber-wrapped rice with seasonal herbs. Visitors to the booth were able to learn more about the food items and even sample some of them.



During the festival, the Korean Food Foundation also introduced its list of “World’s 10 Favorite Korean Dishes” that were designed to be served at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games next year. The dishes were developed by taking into consideration the various tastes of people from around the world who will be visiting Korea next February for the Winter Olympics. In Madrid, visitors to the Korean food booth were able to learn more about the process of making fermented condiments thanks to the display of jars showing the ingredients at different stages of the fermentation process. They were also able to enjoy making healthy snacks, such as bugak (부각) deep-fried vegetables made from freshly harvested local produce, building an understanding about Korean cuisine.



Spanish media outlets didn't hide their interest in Korean food, either. Local broadcasters such as Tele Cinco and TVE gave major air time to the cooking class that took place at the Korean Cultural Center in Spain on Jan. 25. They focused on the value of fermented foods and of Korean cuisine, which includes a variety of fermented ingredients and condiments.

Korean Food Foundation President Yoon Sook-ja said during the event that, “I will do my best so that Korea’s traditions of ingredient preparation and fermentation can be enlisted as intangible cultural assets at UNESCO,” while mentioning the world’s growing interest in fermented food these days.

“Backed by the latest results of the cooking class that targeted Spanish people, we will also work hard to continue supporting the world’s interest in Korean food so that it can lead to them purchasing more Korean ingredients. To do so, we will not only expand opportunities to demonstrate and exhibit Korean food, but also offer more opportunities so that people can have first-hand cooking experiences,” she said.




By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Korean Food Foundation
arete@korea.kr