Wow. We’ve been eating so well here in Seoul. Traditional Korean cuisine is fast becoming my favorite of all time. The breadth and depth of the dishes is astonishing. Plus, I don’t think Koreans let any edible flora go to waste.
Tonight’s dinner was at a traditional Korean restaurant where everything, at least all the flora, served at the restaurant is produced ORGANICALLY within an hour’s drive of Seoul on a farm owned by the restauranteers. The menu included exotic delicasies such as cockscomb, bellflower, chickweed, violet, whitlow grass, shepherd’s purse, mulberry tree shoot, lily root, dandelion, common sow thistle, azalea, and hyssop.
I took notes and pictures, which I’ll post when I have better high speed access. For now, let me assure you that it was a fabulous meal, not in just the cuisine, but the presentation as well. We sat on the floor at low pine tables. All the food was served on custom hand made pottery which was stunningly beautiful. The walls were papered with traditional Korean paper which includes real flowers. The setting was rustic. We traversed a rutted dirt road, passing by lush vegetable plants loaded with eggplant, zucchini, onion, squash, etc.
Ahhhh…I was in epiciurean heaven…I think I’ll go to bed now and dream of kimchi.
Very cool – I will look forward to the photos. Still, I prefer my flowers in a vase. Its great that you and Ian are so edibly open to a variety of flora and fauna.