The wonderful taste and beauty of the cuisine found at Buddhist temples across the country has been introduced to the international visitors currently in Gwangju.

Delegations from around the world are participating in the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade and they had a chance to sample temple food at Jeungsimsa Temple in Gwangju on July 6. International University Sports Federation (FISU) President Claude-Louis Gallien and FISU Secretary General Eric Saintrond were among the 200 some odd people who attended the dinner.



Temple food appeared strange to many of the people in the delegations, but they enjoyed their meals and took pictures throughout the dinner.

"The nearby mountain, the temple and the cuisine are balanced in harmony and have even warmed my heart," said Gallien.

"The food itself is very interesting. There is no such style of cuisine in Spain," said a representative from the Spanish delegation. "It is a completely new kind of taste and I feel like my sense of taste is back again."

Some 40 religious dishes were served at the dinner, including lotus leaf porridge, chilled vegetables with bamboo shoots and mustard sauce, kimchi, fried glutinous rice crackers with tofu and greens, and vegetarian kebabs. There were also many types of tea, including lotus leaf tea, lotus flower tea and yellow tea.




"These dishes represent 1,000 years of history kept here at Jeungsimsa Temple," said the Ven. Yeongwang. "I hope that members of the delegations will have peace of mind and body after enjoying the meals."

By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos courtesy of the Gwangju Summer Universiade Organizing Committee
jun2@korea.kr