Stories | Flavorful Identity

From the North, Carried South

What began as a way to survive, a fermented dish made from unsold fish, became something carried across loss, war, and generations.

The Best Cake in the World

The best cake in the world isn’t sweet. It’s wrapped in seaweed and made with love.

Dining Etiquette: Rules, Memories, and Changing Norms

In one country, slurping is rude. In another, it’s a compliment. From Korea to Japan to France, this is a story about how table rules shape, and reshape, the way we eat together.

Too Late for Lunch, Too Early for Dinner

Every culture eats on its own clock. The hours between meals tell their own story.

Sikgu: Mouths That Eat Together

In Korean, the word for family and the word for eating together are the same. This is a story about what that means — and how a table becomes a relationship.

Cuckoo Has Made Rice

A rice cooker sent across the world, a golden crust at the bottom of a stone pot, and the quiet rule of never wasting a grain.

Seobiseu

A bowl becoming two. An extra fruit added to your bag. A dish slipped onto the table “just because.” These small moments of generosity reveal how food connects us long before we take a bite.

A Table for One, A Table for All

Some meals push you into silence; others pull you into a table full of strangers. Somewhere between a ramen booth in Fukuoka and a long table in Chianti, I learned what it really means to eat alone. And what it means not to.

How We Wrap Winter in Dough

From clearing out old kimchi jars to dumpling traditions across the Silk Road, mandu is both a family ritual and a shared human story of wrapping love into dough.

In the Time of Bear’s Onion

A fleeting spring leaf links Hungary and Korea, and carries a story of survival, memory, and joy across two kitchens.

To Stink or Not to Stink

Some foods dare you before they feed you. Stinky tofu did both and in the process, taught me how openness (and love) can sometimes smell strange at first.

What Kind of Kimchi Am I?

From Hungary to the Netherlands, making kimchi with local ingredients became less about copying tradition and more about creating a version that felt truly my own.

What a Hundred Cucumbers Taught Me

From carrying home 100 cucumbers with her mother in Korea to discovering Hungary’s sun-fermented pickles, this story traces how one tradition finds cousins across borders.

My Story

Every dish has a story. Some foods stay with you because they carry more than flavor. This is my story of how meals became the way I understand family, memory, and who I am.