World Building Entry #1
Excerpt from 1001 Eurasian Recipes: A Scrumptious Journey Across the Russian Empire Vol. III
By The Imperial Eurasian Gastronomy Society as headed by his Royal Highness Nikolai II
Alexandrovich Romanov [1], Obrazets Publishing House, Moscow, 53p, 1896.
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Chapter 4: Korea, by Janusz Lewandowska
Foreword:
"I must confess that when his Majesty the Tsesarevich requested that I manage the Korean cuisine expedition within the Joseon Kingdom, I obeyed but with a manner of reluctance. I was understandably selected for the role due to my early adolescence spent in Pyongyang as the son of a Catholic missionary and for the fact that I spoke Korean fluently, but my true spiritual home was in Warsaw.
However, I'm happy to report that my view has changed since I returned to the place of my youth. In the two years that my team was deployed to the oriental peninsula of Korea, I met and learned from a wide range of divergent figures who showed me the creativity and beauty of this Asiatic kingdom that I overlooked in my childhood. From elderly village matriarchs to dignified chefs of the Chosun palatial kitchens, they all tell their life stories in the dishes they prepare, and as I and my team recount the recipes we recorded, we hope your family can enjoy creating their own stories as well.
Since it's a custom in our society for the expedition leaders to personally write the first recipe of every major region, I would be remiss to break such a commendable tradition. For the land of Joseon, the only fitting entry on my part would be to describe the ancient process of making pickled vegetables or "Kimchi" as the Koreans call it.
Recipe for Kimchi:
Kimchi (김치) is a collective term for vegetable dishes that have been salted, seasoned, and fermented. The history of kimchi goes back to ancient times as evidenced by artifacts discovered by the fruitful work of the Royal Russian-Korean Archeology Society in multiple dig sites.
Like most fermented dishes, Kimchi has recently been proven by modern science to have many beneficial properties to increase vigor in all who consume it. Kimchi is a bountiful source of useful lactic acid bacteria, has excellent anti-cancer effects, and even helps prevent aging. When I asked how so many of the grandmothers I interviewed have survived on this earth for so many years, most claimed that Kimchi was the key to their extended lifespan.
The following kimchi recipe is made with baechu (배추), known as Chinese cabbage or napa cabbage, hence the name baechu kimchi. Because the cabbage is kept intact at its head, it's also known as pogi kimchi (포기김치). Pogi means a "head" of a vegetable.
In late fall, Korean households make this type of kimchi in large quantity for their kimjang (or gimajang, 김장), an annual kimchi making event in preparation for the long and freezing months, similar to our own Russian winters. I observed the village elders directing hordes of women to make kimchi using thousands of harvested cabbages collectively - this was accomplished by dozens of families rotating their kimjang schedules to aid each other.
From my own experience, I usually make each batch with 5-10 heads (pogi) of cabbages at a time because we eat kimchi every day - it's essential for your average meal in Korea. Also, I provide regular supply to my neighbors and staff when they begin to run dry. It's a tradition in Korea to create Kimchi for the benefit of your family and friends, so I gladly continue the tradition. I suggest you do the same for your own loved ones as well.
Many of the ingredients I will list below might not be well known or readily available to you, my dear readers, but rest assured because Kimchi is a remarkably versatile dish in that many ingredients can be replaced or discarded while the essence of the delicious Kimchi remains intact.
However, if you live in the Pacific coast or near the Trans-Siberian railroad, then you would be rewarded for your troubles if you sought out a Korean grocery store or oriental market to make the following recipe as authentic as possible. You might have doubts about utilizing oyster sauce or chili powder for the dish, but your efforts will be returned in a generous fashion when you get a taste of the finished product…"
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[1] '1001 Eurasian Recipes: A Scrumptious Journey Across the Russian Empire' would become the magnum opus for the imperial gastrodiplomacy campaign as instituted by Tsar Alexander the third and his son Tsesarevich Nicholas the second. The four volume tome would eventually become one of the most successful and enduring legacies of Alexandrian Era Russia as proven by several successful reprintings over multiple decades to the modern day. The voluminous cookbook would eventually become a unifying cultural hallmark across the empire and the series would also enjoy a manner of success in over 30 different countries worldwide. The 120th anniversary edition of the series was recently announced for a December 2016 release date.