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Why do Koreans attribute a special food to each city?
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chungbukdo



Joined: 22 Aug 2010
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:24 pm    Post subject: Why do Koreans attribute a special food to each city? Reply with quote
Why does every city in Korea have a special food? It doesn't make logical sense to me, nor has it ever panned out in actuality (ie I just traveled to 6 different cities with the unlimited train pass this week and none of the food was any better than anywhere else).

Even seemingly rational people like my girlfriend believe this idea that, for example, Gyeongju can make better bread. Leaving aside the fact that bread is not made by cities themselves but by individual bakers, and the taste of the bread would be dependent on the baker who made the bread, they would have to provide a reason why this same delicious bread could not be made in Seoul or Busan. From what I understand, inhabitants of Gyeongju do not possess a magical flour that makes their bread taste better. And if they did, they would sell it to bakeries in Seoul as well.

Is it the magical skill of the inhabitants of those cities? Do Jeonju born and raised fingers mix a better bibimbap? Then why couldn't a person from Jeonju move to Seoul and make the same bibimbap? Or why couldn't a person in Seoul follow the same recipe as a person from Jeonju?

Now, to a certain extent there are foods back home that vary with the city. For example, it's a little bit hard to get a Chicago deep dish style pizza outside of the East, depending on your town. But Korean cities are only 20km apart from eachother and all have the same culture and same stores and same ingredients. People in Ulsan don't use a different kind of cheese compared to people in Busan.

So am I crazy or is this overplayed in Korean culture?
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highstreet



Joined: 13 Nov 2010
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Busan is only 20km from Seoul?

They do this in pretty much every developed country. Not sure why you care so much.
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NYC_Gal 2.0



Joined: 10 Dec 2010
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
http://www.jiaqili.com/2011/01/food-by-us-state.html
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Landros



Joined: 19 Oct 2007
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
it is just that in these cities they specialize in a food. like if you go to pusan eat raw fish. you can get it anywhere but go there and there is tones of it and fresh. or bibinbab at jeonju. there are just a bunch of restaurants there that only make it. the dish is not the same in every restaurant. like buy peaches where they grow them. I guess it is just something special to do when you go to one place like hodu (?) in cheonan.

lol I like to get kal gook soo only in myungdon. lol.

and eat duck near ori station. this is really funny now that you mention it. I didn't notice it myself. I am so Korean in that regard.
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rumdiary



Joined: 05 Jun 2006
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like the other poster said, this isn't just a Korean thing. I'm sure many years ago the difference between the jimdak in seoul and andong was huge, but now there isn't much difference unless you have been eating it your entire life and are able to taste the slight nuances. The dukgalbi in chuncheon is still a huge step up from the rest of korea though.
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Jake_Kim



Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Philly Cheesesteak.

Is it physically impossible to make the same food outside Philadelphia? Why must this cuisine always be affiliated with a particular city in the United States?
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Girlygirl



Joined: 31 Oct 2008
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think it's a gimmick to attract tourists.
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chungbukdo



Joined: 22 Aug 2010
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Jake_Kim wrote:
Philly Cheesesteak.

Is it physically impossible to make the same food outside Philadelphia? Why must this cuisine always be affiliated with a particular city in the United States?


So I suppose these replies mean that this method of thinking is completely wrong, but since some people do it in the US as well I shouldn't mention it?

From what I understand, Philly Cheesesteaks are named after the city that invented them. However, not many Westerners claim that they're actually better in Philadelphia specifically (some may though). Just like we can get good New York style fries anywhere. In the case of most (maybe not all) North Americans, we seem to think that the taste of the food is more dependent on the quality of the specific chef/restaurant rather than the city it is made (which makes logical sense).

In fact, I'm from the city of Nanaimo where the Nanaimo Bar was created and I readily admit the best Nanaimo Bar I've ever tasted was made in Itaewon at the Tartine Bakery and Cafe. That is because of the individual chef, not because of the city.
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chungbukdo



Joined: 22 Aug 2010
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Landros wrote:
it is just that in these cities they specialize in a food. like if you go to pusan eat raw fish. you can get it anywhere but go there and there is tones of it and fresh.

There is tonnes of fresh and raw fish in every coastal city in Korea. The fish at the Noryangjin fish market in Seoul come from the same ocean as the fish from the market in Busan. All of those huge crabs still come from Alaska. I live in the mountains in the center of Korea and next door to my house is a sashimi place with live fish floating around in tanks, since Korea is a tiny peninsula with no town farther than 2 hours from the sea.

The Kalguksoo thing is interesting as well. Isn't it Insadong that is famous for it? I mean they all use the same wheat noodles from wheat grown in Canada and the US. They probably all buy it at the same E-mart and use the same recipe. The only possible difference could be the freshness of the clams, which is dependent on how the individual store is run.
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whiteshoes



Joined: 14 Apr 2009
PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Don't forget that Korea has been a count