Wine on Wednesday February 2016

Cool People I
How did you become interested in French
food?
My grandfather was the first person to
introduce Korean food in Japan, so I felt a desire
early on to introduce a previously unfamiliar
food to Koreans. It wasn’t that I was initially so
interested in French cuisine, but while in the
United States, I learned how complex French
food was. There was a weak recognition of
French food in Korea and so I thought, ‘Great!
This is it!’ Ever since, I’ve been working toward
improving the awareness of French food here.
In consideration of the relatively low-level of
appreciation of French food here, let alone
charcuterie, why open La Cave du Cochon?
Upon realizing that I needed more charcuterie
while at L’Espoir du Hibou, I started to study
how to make it. I recognized how diverse this
type of food was and became interested in
expanding my repertoire of dishes. I did feel,
however, that it wasn’t easy to fully explore
charcuterie at L’Espoir. Thus, with La Cave du
Cochon, I am making a broader array of foods
that fit into the category of charcuterie.
How has the general public responded to
charcuterie?
Although many Koreans are unfamiliar with
charcuterie, many do know confit, a type of
charcuterie. Some charcuterie varieties which
can be enjoyed as a main dish are also becoming
more popular. As time goes by, however, I think
30 <strong>Wine</strong> on Wednesday February 2016
this will change and the general public will
become more comfortable trying and enjoying
the various types of charcuterie.
What should the general public know about
charcuterie?
I don’t think it’s necessary for people to become
charcuterie aficionados. It’s one of those foods
that people should try and decide if they like it
or not. For example, in Korea we have hongeo
(fermented skate). It is obviously liked by some,
and not by others. That’s fine. I think it’s better
for people to develop an appreciation for
charcuterie. Over time, they will begin to
recognize that charcuterie is done this way in
this region and that way in that region. As for
me, I’m just happy and inspired to see more
people willing to try to enjoy this kind of food.
In the case of our customers, some don’t prefer
meats which are served cold. Furthermore, there
are some kinds of charcuterie which are cooked
first and then pressed into a form, while other
varieties are raw and pressed into shape. From
the perspective of the average person, they both
seem to be the same, that is, cold pressed meats,
but in fact, they are different. I like that people
can develop their own personal tastes in terms
of which type of charcuterie they like. It’s my
hope that instead of simply saying, ‘I like
charcuterie’ or ‘I don’t like charcuterie’, that
people will explore the different kinds of
charcuterie and find types they like.
Of course, it will take time for this to happen,
but of course I enjoy watching this process of
familiarization take place. I see some of my
customers from L’Espoir come here to try a
broader variety of charcuterie, while first-time
customers come because it’s trendy, buy a lot at
one time, find that they don’t like it and then
never return. I guess in this light, it’s best to
develop an appreciation of charcuterie gradually.
WoW