If gluttony is a deadly sin, I had a lot of opportunities to sin during my recent year-end trip back to France, my home country. However, I am still as alive as the tradition of gastronomic meal in France, inscribed in November 2010 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Just before leaving Korea, I was sure that the words "well-being", "balance" and "light" would be prohibited for 2 weeks. In order to prepare the arrival of her 2 prodigal daughters - one living in Korea and the other one living in Canary Islands, my mother had stuffed her fridge with tons of cheese, charcuterie (delicatessen), giants yoghurts (well, compared with the Korean ones), meaty and dairy products, and any kind of ingredients to be transformed into edible pieces of art: pot-au-feu (sort of galbitang with a lot of vegetables), raclette (melted cheese with boiled potatoes and all kind of delicatessen, so salty you have to drink a lot during and before; you generally eat it at dinner time and then your night is sleepless), boeuf bourguignon (kind of galbijim), magrets de canard (duck breast with thick fat skin), blanquette de veau, couscous, etc etc. I am not even talking about Christmas' and New Year's Eves ...
But the first meal I kindly yer firmly requested her to prepare was poulet rôti - frites (roasted chicken with French fries). What I actually missed are those endless French meals with all family gathering around the table for a 2-hour-culinary marathon: starter, main course, sald, cheese, dessert, coffee with chocolates with bread, wines and a lot of strong mustard.
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| My beloved grandmother Jeanne, used to be such a great cook and is still such a great food lover |
Despite of having visited Korea many times (or because of it), my mother still thinks that I am craving for French food everyday. In reality, I only miss some specific types of food that I cannot easily find here: the real Activia (not "Hectibia") yoghurt in 125g format with the right texture, soups, rillettes d'oie, real goat cheeses, salade mâche, chocolate with salted caramel, Bonne Maman cookies, etc. Anyway, after of expatriation in Korea, I guess food is not an issue anymore, on the contrary. Having chosen not to come back to France, I do not feel the need to reject a culture that has not been imposed to me and I really do not care if I cannot eat saucisson and jambon blanc everyday.
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| Finally I could eat saucisson everyday (many thanks to my sister for having brought salami and chorizo from Canary Islands)
 Due to climate difference, mine was full of soups and cosmetic creams |
I love Korean food and I found so many interesting products here that I would like to share with you. And if I really miss French food then I cook it with local ingredients. Ok, let's start with my Seoul findings in December:
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| Delicious yoghurts with almonds, Lotte Mart |
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| Yummy dogani soup ... available at Lotte Mart |
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| Vs. Delicious Spinash and Artichoke soup, Liebig at Carrefour |
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| Strange yet interesting cheese cookies, AVEC (= with, in French) |
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| My lost goat cheeses, sequestred by security staff at Charles de Gaulle Airport (don't put it in your hand luggage) |
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| Delicious croissant from Lotte Mart (I love industrial frozen croissants, they are the best ones!) |
And finally, a few cosmetic findings:
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Invisible .... hahahahahahah (may be under 10 layers of BB cream), found in Korea |
These days, Frenchies are crazier than ever about food and about cooking. Last year, I discovered the French TV Program "Un Dîner Presque Parfait" http://undinerpresqueparfait.m6.fr/ and I loved it.
The gastronomic meal of the French: intangible yet edible
The 5th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee, chaired by Jacob Ole Miaron (Kenya) and meeting in Nairobi with some 450 participants, finished its work on 19 November by inscribing 51 new elements on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Heritage.
Among the 47 elements inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity are: the gastronomic meal of the French, Compagnonnage, network for on-the-job transmission of knowledge and identities and craftsmanship of Alençon needle lace-making for France.
Three Korean traditions have been given Unesco heritage status: Daemokjang, traditional wooden architecture, Gagok, lyric song cycles accompanied by an orchestra and falcon hunting shared with 10 other countries - the United Arab Emirates, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Mongolia - which have developed their own falcon hunting traditions.
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