Bringing a taste of Korea to Maryland

Korean cuisine was on the menu at Waldorf West Library on July 8.

The library hosted a Korean food workshop to help educate groups of all ages on how to make dishes like gimbap and yubuchobap.

Gimbap is a Korean dish made from cooked rice, vegetables, fish and meat rolled in seaweed. Yubuchobap is a variation of gimbap, with contents stuffed into a fried tofu pocket.

The workshop was put on by the Korean-American Culture and Arts Foundation, which brought Chef Song Hee Park, a Korean traditional cuisine master, to help demonstrate how to make the dishes.

Park has studied royal, temple and fermented cuisine, among other types, and has acquired licenses for each of the areas of study. She studied under a master chef and has worked at the Korean Embassy in Rome.

She visits the United States every year to help introduce Korean cuisine to the country.

“I believe that the [cuisine] itself will transcend the limitations of language and reveal the heart of every Korean to the American public,” Tammy Pantages, chairman of the Korean-American Culture and Arts Foundation, said. “Equally important, the Koreans living here are proud of their country’s heritage, which their fellow Americans and comrades can enjoy as well.”

The Korean-American Culture and Arts Foundation brings its outreach to public libraries in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., areas.

In the July 8 program, groups gathered around Park for demonstrations before going to make their own gimbap and yubuchochop. Park and other volunteers wandered around the room and share traditions with a new audience.

“By experiencing various cultures, such as healthy and delicious home-cooked meals, ancient crafts with a 5,000-year history, and the music and dance of masters, you can understand each other more deeply and enjoy your daily life more enrichingly,” Pantages said.