Luxury / Culinary Delights

Publication : Luxury

Date : October 2017

Title : Culinary Delights

There are as many ways to display the food in each country as there are many different kinds of food. If French cuisine focuses on colors, Japanese cuisine is simple but detailed, and Chinese cuisine is renowned for its grandeur. We got to know about Korean food plating, which is as elegant as ink-and-wash paintings through GAON, the leader of modern Korean cuisine restaurant.

A Piece of Ink-and-Wash Painting, Reflecting the Beauty of Empty Space

When it comes to Korean food, it is easy to think about Korean barbecue dishes such as bulgogi and galbi. However, GAON, Korea’s first Michelin 3-star restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide Seoul 2017, was recognized for its elegant beauty of modern Korean cuisine. GAON focused on a neat plating that doesn’t show more than five ingredients in a dish.

GAON’s Executive Chef Byoung-Jin Kim says the principle of designing menu is making clear distinctions between the main and supporting dishes. "Even if you make broth with a lot of ingredients, you have to leave it clear for the final product. Also, make sure the seasoning is not stronger than the main dish itself because we have to make sure to highlight the main." He added that he once had a time when he focused on colorful decorations, but his years of experience have changed his mind. "As I was introducing Korean food to the world, I came to think about what it is like to be Korean. I realized that it isn’t necessary to express Korean food like a Western dish. “I concluded that if Korean cuisine is something calm, simple but has deep taste, it should be displayed in a way that reflect its characteristics better. That's our competitive edge."

President Lucia Cho was focused on finding the identity of Korean cuisine when she opened GAON in 2014. Thus, she put GAON’s concept on royal cuisine and designed all dishes as course meals. "I wanted to let people know about the beauty and wonders of Korean cuisine through royal cuisine, the most systematic recipes that are continuously being researched." All the dishes at GAON are served in tableware made by KwangJuYo’s artisan, who is an expert at dealing with clay and natural glaze. This entertains both the mouth and the eyes of the guests.

Plating with a Narrative

Executive Chef Byoung-Jin Kim selects all the dishes suitable for new menus every season on his own. He expressed the autumn in Korea through mushrooms, ginseng and pine needles this fall. The course begins with a variety of finger-foods. Steamed figs are the highlights of this part. It is made of fig, which means ‘fruit without flowers. It is placed in a bowl that looks like flower blooming. "Grind yam and burdock finely, add glutinous rice paste and boil it for a long time. Then, make rice ball cakes with it. Put figs on the top to make it look like figs blooming from the ground. The plates also express the shape of flowers, so the display itself also becomes a part of the dish. Figs that are blanched and peeled melt away as soon as you put them into the mouth. Rice ball cakes add soft texture and mildness to the dish.

Finger-foods like preserved jumbo shrimp in soy sauce that are made only when we can get live jumbo shrimps, beef tartare with fried flavored rice rolled like gimbap, and boiled down tomato with beautiful colors, are served in plates or bowls with pillars. “We use dishes with pillars when serving finger-foods. These kind of tablewares are used for ancestral rites, and they also convey the meaning of respect. So we are expressing gratitude to our guests before we actually begin talking about GAON’s Korean cuisine.”

He chose a slightly cup shaped plate for steamed pine mushroom and abalone, a dish with savory scent. "It's a dish that blanches abalone in thick broth made of chicken and red ginseng, puts shredded pine mushrooms on top and uses black murrill mushrooms as a point decoration. The murrill mushroom, which can only be harvested for about 15 days a year, has a scent similar to those of neungi and pine mushroom. We use mushroom harvested from the mountains of Hongcheon, Bonghwa and Yangyang regions, so they have fresh scent and texture. We chose a plate that will keep the delicate aroma and heat of the food for a longer time." Plates for finger-foods and tea cups vary depending on the customers, but the rest of the dishes are served in a consistent setting. The tea cups which customers can choose for themselves, consist of works made in the early days of KwangJuYo. Tea cups with different shapes and colors of customers’ own choice provides another unique experience.

1 Finger-food and steamed pine mushroom and abalone, the new menus for this fall. They design menus with seasonal ingredients, use table wares that reflect the characteristics of each menu and complete the dish in a beautiful manner.

2 Brazier which contains burnt pine needles and side dish box for desert served at the end of the course meal.

3 A large room at GAON decorated like a small art gallery.

4 Executive Chef Byoung-Jin Kim and President Lucia Cho, the leaders of GAON. United under the goal of becoming the best restaurant, they achieved a brilliant success of being the first Michelin 3-star restaurant in Korea last year.

5,6 GAON’s neatly displayed dishes make refined Korean cuisine look even more luxurious.