The Korean Cultural Center in Washington, DC, together with the DC Mayor's Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs and Tae-gu Kimchi, hosted an event on Friday, November 17, at 6 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library to promote kimjang, the making and sharing of kimchi, for the first time in the nation's capital. A total of 180 people attended the event.
The event, titled "DC's First Kimjang: Making and Sharing Kimchi," was organized to commemorate the 10th anniversary of kimjang's recognition by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage, celebrate DC Kimchi Day on November 22, and provide local residents with kimchi in the spirit of the American holiday of Thanksgiving.
The event commenced with congratulatory remarks from Director of the Korean Cultural Center Jung-hoon Kim and Ben de Guzman, Director of the DC Mayor's Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. Director Guzman, underscoring the significance of the occasion, then personally delivered a proclamation from the DC Mayor's Office, designating November 22 as Kimchi Day and making the November 17 event the first kimjang event in Washington, D.C.
The event featured Korean-American chef Patrice Cunningham of Tae-gu Kimchi, who explained and demonstrated how to make kimchi. Cunningham, whose mother is Korean, was working in the culinary industry when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and created Tae-gu Kimchi using her mother's kimchi recipe, which she has since sold at regional farmer's markets while making her way into major grocery stores and ultimately throughout the United States
Participants learned about kimchi culture and received a detailed explanation of kimchi ingredients before trying their hand at making kimchi. They experienced the fun of making their own kimchi using salted cabbage, seasonings, and kimchi paste to take home. To see what participants thought of the event, check out the video below.