Korean Job Discussion Forums

[IncognitoHFX2]

It's getting better these days. When I came here five years ago, I noticed that whole wheat bread was impossible to come by. I remember only being able to find white bread and white rice during my first couple of years.

More recently, I've been able to find whole wheat bread, whole wheat spaghetti noodles and most importantly, brown rice, barley rice and black rice in many places.

However I noticed when I bring this up with my students, they always tell me that it's because whole grains taste bad. I hate eating white rice or white bread because the taste seems off and I don't want to be eating empty carbohydrates. I also grew up in a house that didn't allow white bread or rice.

Most of my students and Korean friends will only eat brown rice if it's mixed with white rice. "Bakeries" like Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours only carry products made from white bread, usually with cream and extremely sugary toppings on them (Koreans think it's gourmet for some ungodly reason).

The only time I found brown bread at Paris Baguette, I snatched it because it looked rather good. When I got home I tried to make a sandwich with it, it was loaded with this sugary creamy stuff in between each and every slice. I had to remove it in order to make a proper sandwich.

Actually, it's not that bad in Korea because at least you can buy it if you look hard enough. In Japan, whole grains are really looked down on (because the Japanese ate brown rice in poorer times) and it's near impossible to find whole grain anything.

When I ask my Korean friends about this, they always say it tastes bad and is gross. Kids hate brown rice with a passion.

It's sad because white rice has no nutritional value, neither does white bread. Brown rice is great for you which is why I've started substituting all the white rice I ate with brown rice (if I go out to eat I bring some with me).

Does anyone know why this is? I can't recall ever going to a bakery or buying bread in Canada and only seeing white bread. Maybe 50:50 or 60:40 (whole wheat: white) but not 99:1 like it is here.

[12ax7]

Simple: perception. It used to be that only the poor would it barley and mixed grains, while the rich ate white rice. Not to say that whole grain isn't popular (usually powdered and mixed with water to be consumed as a drink).

As for the sugary bread...The best way I can explain it is by saying that it's far easier and cheaper to add sugar to bread dough or a non-dairy frosting to bread than to make proper pastry.

[fermentation]

12ax7 is right. Whole grains are perceived as poor people food and most kids are raised on white rice. It is also perceived to not taste as good. It took me a while to get used to eating whole grains too after almost never having eaten it for most of my life. The older generation hate it because that's what they used to eat everyday as kids. Back in day, white rice was reserved for the elders in the family so kids barely got to even taste it. My dad despises it because it reminds him of the time when they barely got enough to eat.

As for whole grain pasta and bread, its just not as popular here. But it is catching on. Brown and black rice aren't really recent though. They've been around forever.

[luckylady]

what's so ironic about this is in the U.S., many still believe that only poor people would eat white rice - and I honestly have my doubts as to white rice being less healthy than brown rice. yes, it's probably got more carbs, but then, it's also sort of heavier in texture and flavor, so usually one eats less of it than white, so in the end it's probably the same.

also Americans tend to think beans are poor people's fare so most won't eat them as much either, despite the health aspect of beans and legumes.

bottom line, class issues are widespread, not just in Korea.

[fermentation]

[IncognitoHFX2]

[Css]

i remember that as a kid in the UK, all of us hated brown bread with a passion..claimed it tasted disgusting etc...unfortunately it was still sold everywhere

[pkang0202]

Why are people so picky about food?

[The Cosmic Hum]

[transmogrifier]