By Honorary Reporter Vincenzo Acampora Carratura from Italy

(Korea.net DB)

(Korea.net DB)

I met Italian chef Mauro Seu in Milan during an event organized by the Hansik Foundation to promote Korean food. There, we talked about our common passion for Korean cuisine and after a few months, we saw each other again at the Hansik Festival in Seoul.

Boasting extensive international experience, Seu has worked as executive chef for prestigious hotel chains like Marriott, Sheraton and Crown Plaza. Over the last few years, he has performed R&D for one of Korea's biggest food companies, Daesang Corp. The following are excerpts from my interview with the chef in February.

Chef Mauro Seu attends a cooking show in Madrid. (Mauro Seu)

How did your passion for cooking come about?

I think that the choice of being a chef is a bit like choosing to become a priest. It takes a vocation. I've always had a passion for cooking, so becoming a chef was a natural thing.

What were your first steps toward becoming a chef?
I studied at the hotel school of the University of Sassari (Italy). During summer and school breaks, I worked at hotels and restaurants.

How has a chef's job changed over time?
Definitely for the better from what I see daily. Customers also have more culinary culture and hotels and restaurants invest more in staff training. Another important aspect is food safety.

What do you appreciate most about Korean cuisine?
The seasonality of the products and the regional cuisine of Korea.

What do you like most about your work?
First of all, my colleagues. Then I love being able to create and try a thousand recipes thanks to my job as R&D chef. I travel a lot for work and have the opportunity to present these recipes globally at fairs or festivals or to culinary students around the world. Promoting Korean cuisine globally provides great satisfaction for me, and of course, it's a team effort.

Chef Mauro Seu participates at the Kimchi Festival in San Francisco. (Mauro Seu)

What brings Korean and Italian cuisines closer together and how do you think they can mix?

When it comes to traditional and regional cuisines, there are many differences between the two cuisines. What brings the two countries closer together is the seasonality of the products.

Both Italy and Korea are peninsulas with four distinct seasons, and thus a wide variety of seasonal ingredients is available. Among the most common ingredients is chili. As you know, Korean cuisine is rich in chili and garlic, and this can be another point of contact between the two cuisines, especially that of southern Italy. Of course, Italian-Korean fusion recipes can be created like arancini stuffed with kimchi, pasta with cream and gochujang (red pepper paste) sauce, or tiramisu with gochujang that I presented years ago at the Gochujang Festival in Sunchang-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province.

What are your favorite places in Korea?
I like Seoul and then, being an islander, Jeju Island.

What would you recommend to young chefs who want an experience abroad, maybe in Korea?
Certainly for future chefs, gaining experience abroad is a mandatory step. In the kitchen, you never stop learning. The second important thing is to plan your career.

As for Korea, learning about Korean cuisine is a must. A survey in 2019 ranked Korean cuisine as the world's 11th most popular, so knowledge of Korean ingredients is necessary for a chef.

chaey0726@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