Julia Devochikina (left) from Russia and her mother listen to an explanation about a birthday feast table that was prepared according to traditions in the North Korean city of Gaeseong at the Namsangol Hanok Village in Jung-gu District, Seoul, on May 11. (Lee Yoonseo)
By Lee Yoonseo and Yoon Sojung
Seoul l May 11, 2018
“It's so unique and beautiful to see a traditional feast table decorated with flowers and eggs,” said Julia Devochikina from Russia on May 11.
She was appreciating a traditionally prepared wedding feast table that would be served to the groom's parents. The table was prepared according to traditions from the North Korean city of Gaeseong.
A food festival featuring traditional ceremonial feasts took place at the Namsangol Hanok Village in Jung-gu District, Seoul, on May 10 and 11.
Called the Korean Traditional Food & Ceremonial Food Festival, the two-day event focused on the four ceremonial events that everyone experiences from birth to death, and related feasts: the coming-of-age celebration, weddings, funerals and ancestral rites.
The festival attracted many visitors, as it introduced traditional ceremonial foods from both the South and North sides of Korea. At the exhibit venue, most people, both Korean and non-Korean visitors, took strong interest in the Gaeseong-style pyebaek wedding feast (폐백) that was traditionally prepared for the groom’s parents, and the suyeonsang birthday feast (수연상) that celebrates longevity and that marks special birthdays, such as the 60th hwangap birthday or the 70th gohui birthday. Gaeseong is a North Korean border city that's not far from Panmunjeom, the venue for the latest 2018 Inter-Korean Summit that took place Apr. 27.
Devochikina and her mother were among the festival-goers.
Regarding the traditional Gaeseong-style wedding table, she said that, “The feast table decorated with eggs and flower-shaped rice cakes looks very unique and beautiful.”
She added that she is aware of kimchi and some Korean soups, thanks to her Korean friends in Moscow.
Mimi Nur Attahirah from Malaysia took a closer look at the suyeonsang birthday table with her family members. She said with a smile that, “This is the first time to see a traditional North Korean birthday feast table and it looks very interesting.”
Attahirah even made a gesture to offer traditional liquor to her mother after discovering a small liquor table set up in front of the birthday table, learning the meaning of the table's layout and in a wish for longevity.
Director Yoon Sook-ja of the Institute of Traditional Korean Food said that, “There have been many food festivals that introduced traditional Korean food from the South, but this is the very first event to feature traditional North Korean ceremonial foods and table settings.”
“After the successful 2018 Inter-Korean Summit last month, we decided to introduce both South and North Korea food and culinary heritage,” said Yoon.
Director Yoon pointed out that Gaeseong juak fried rice cake (개성 주악) and moyakgwa squared-shaped, deep-fried honey cookies (모약과) are both iconic menu items at Gaeseong-style wedding and birthday feasts.
She said, “Gaeseong juak is regarded as a must-have menu item for banquets there so much so that many locals even say that, ‘A feast without Gaeseong juak is not considered a feast.’”
Regarding moyakgwa, Yoon said that, “Moyakgwa was widely loved by many people in the past. During the times of the Mongolian invasion during Goryeo, Mongolians loved them so much that they even dubbed the dish as ‘Goryeobeyong’ (고려병) or Goryeo rice cake.”
Comparing ceremonial foods from South and North Korea, Director Yoon said, “Although Koreans from the South or the North used different food ingredients to prepare for the ceremonial feasts from birth to death, they all had in common the same wish for good health and longevity.”
A table setting for a traditional wedding feast following traditions from the North Korean city of Gaeseong captures the attention of many visitors to the Namsangol Hanok Village in Jung-gu District, Seoul, on May 10 and 11. The photo shows a Gaeseong-style traditional wedding feast prepared for the groom’s parents, which features eggs, fried rice cakes and square-shaped honey cookies. (Lee Yoonseo)
The opening ceremony for the Korean Traditional Food & Ceremonial Food Festival takes place at the Namsangol Hanok Village in Jung-gu District, Seoul, on May 10. At the ceremony were (from left) Director Yoon Sook-ja of the Institute of Traditional Korean Food, Chargé d'Affaires Marc Knapper of the U.S. embassy to Korea, and Ambassador of Ireland to Korea Julian Clare. (Embassy of Ireland to Korea Twitter)
clo1120@korea.kr