Eric Kim, "Korean Food in American Media"

About this event

In this lecture, New York Times food writer Eric Kim will explore the journey of Korean food coverage in the US, focusing on the addition of Korean food and culinary terms to the English dictionary; the commercial success of gochujang due to viral recipes like cookies and pasta; and the release of multiple Korean cookbooks this season alone. His talk will analyze how exactly coverage of Korean and Korean American cuisine broke through the ceiling of a systemically (and famously) exclusionary industry: food magazines, book publishing, TV and media. The talk will also address the pitfalls of rapid success: the scarcity-mindedness and infighting within the Korean American community. As a participant from the frontlines of a cultural and culinary shift, Kim promises to share entertaining but instructive first-person anecdotes for an enriching talk about how culture moves when an object is bright and shiny, and when everyone suddenly wants a piece of the same pie.