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| - My relationship with Korean BBQ has become more complicated recently than ever before. Most of this stems from my own heritage, and a desire to preserve a strong perception of Korean culture and its cuisine.
Places like Korean Grill House test me. While I truly do love Korean BBQ as a whole, and all that stems from it - including the culture that surrounds it, these restaurants bring me to question the space that Korean cuisine occupies in North America.
It's not about authenticity, per se (for those who don't know, Korean Grill House is not a Korean-run establishment). I am a huge fan of fusion, and cultural appropriation has, in my opinion, led to many steps forward for our society.
Really, there's another reason: for many North Americans, Asian food is equal parts cheap and crappy. Korean food is usually no exception to this.
In many ways, North Americans are justified in this belief. When your exposure to a cuisine is limited to that which is created by untrained immigrant workers, and largely to one dish, your expectations are limited.
Imagine if Canadians immigrated to India and only made bad poutine - you'd have waves of Indians believing that that was all Canadian food was.
Here's my other qualm: Korean Grill House exists to feed the lowest common denominator the most amount of food for the lowest cost. In doing so, the perception of Korean cuisine shifts from what it truly should be - food that stems from a poor and agro-centric society, with fermentation taking center stage.
But even so, Korean Grill House's success could also be a good thing for Korean cuisine. Even poor iterations of food can act as a gateway to further exploration. There is no better example than the success of Japanese cuisine.
The worst thing that a place like Korean Grill House can do is provide a frame of reference for Canadians on what Korean cuisine is. The best they can do is act as a lubricant for Canadians to explore more of Korean cuisine. That's the ideal.
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