By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Vincenzo Carratura Acampora from Italy
Photos = Joseph Lidgerwood

Over the past few years, Korean food has grown in popularity and more people are appreciating its unique flavors and ingredients. Many chefs are proposing Korea-inspired dishes and the use of traditional Korean ingredients like kimchi or doenjang soy bean paste.

Chef Joseph Lidgerwood from Australia visited Korea last year and during his trip became very interested in Korean food. It's an interest that has grown so much that he decided to come back to Korea to work on his own idea of Korean food during the project "Joseph's Korea," a series of popup events in Seoul. These were dinner events where Korea's lesser-known ingredients were showcased with a more modern approach by Chef Joseph and his team of Korean chefs and sommeliers.

Korea.net sat down with him after his most recent successful event in Seoul and before his relocation to the U.S. where he will refine his skills at the restaurant French Laundry.

- When did your interest in cooking start?

I started cooking at 14-years-old when I worked in a small bakery in Tasmania. It was a humble weekend job that had me making simple things like pizza breads and making doughnuts. I had to get up super early, as most bakers do, to prepare for the morning. I really think this has given me a sense of working hard from an early age.

- How would you define your cuisine? From where do you get your inspiration?

It's really hard for anyone to put their style of food under one simple banner. I would define what I do as a mix of creating food that reconnects people with what they already know from food mixed with the unexpected. Taking food that you may have had a hundred times before, but showcasing it in a new light. Taking ingredients that you would assume are glamorous but with the right application showcasing them in ways you have never experienced before.

- You have been traveling in many countries with other chefs for the popup cuisine project “One Star House Party.” What have you learned from this experience?

The first thing and the most important was -- fundamentally -- that the food alone is not what brings people the joy of eating out. Many chefs crave attention for the flavor of their food and neglect the fact that dining out is experience-based. To truly get the message across about the food, you have to connect people with the food you're cooking so they somehow feel connected to the whole experience. For example, how many times have we been to a restaurant and been in an argument with someone or something? At that stage, the food could be the best in the world, but because we have things that already have preoccupied us, it doesn't matter.

- What do you enjoy about doing popup dinner, if compared with working in a regular restaurant? What are the challenges?

I love the flexibility of a popup. I love the mad dash preparation and the passion that it requires to pull it off. I love that the guests have no preconceptions, as it's a new experience both for the chef and the guests.





- Korean food seems to have sparked your interest. What interests you about Korean cuisine? Why do you think it is a cuisine that's still not very popular?

I ask myself this question daily. I think people are slow to catch on. I think that this will not be a problem in 10 years. The recent focus and the recent surge of good chefs emerging from Korea will bring the spotlight to a place that is so rich and diverse in terms of food and cuisine.

- Korean food must have been unfamiliar to you before visiting Korea. How did you learn about ingredients, recipes and so on? Did you meet local chefs and farmers here in Korea?

I was lucky enough to have great support from the Korean chefs' friends and family around me. I don’t have any non-Korean friends in Korea, and I think that has helped push me out of my comfort zone and maximize my learning of Korean ingredients.

- How did you create the menu? What was the concept that you developed for the event?

The menus I created are always based around a single Korean ingredient. I love narrowing down on single ingredient and showcasing its potential. Utilizing modern techniques, but also using the traditions that surround a food also to connect the people to the food that they're eating. I like to use ways that make people interact with the food so the feeling is involved with the food.

- What unique Korean ingredients do you enjoy using in your recipes?

There isn’t a simple answer to this. I love so many unique ingredients here in Korea, and techniques. What I love most is the appreciation people have for the food that I create. I think the popups I create are hard to put into words and really need to be experienced to realized.



- At the popup dinner, you provide diners with drawings of the menu and the ingredients. Do you draw them yourself? Is this a passion that you've developed for a long time? Have you drawn on paper a lot of your ideas for new recipes?

I do draw the menu. It's a great way to show my appreciation for all the guests who make the effort to support projects like this. I hand-draw the menu, but I also have a lot of help from the team around me. I have a wonderful design team that scans them and formats them for the right size. Then another individual will pick the paper and print them. Everything I've done is a reflection of the wonderful team I have around me.

- What are your plans for the future?

I want to build on my success thus far and open a permanent site in Seoul so I can push Korean food to a wider demographic. I want to show the world what Korean cuisine has to offer. I'm currently in search of the right investor that can help me reach the goals I have set for the future. I want to discover more and I plan to learn Korean so I can better connect with this great country.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.