My Love For Hansik Began With K-Drama ‘Jewel In The Palace’ – Berepele

In many ways mother and guidance counsellor, Patience Berepele, winner of the 2024 maiden Korean Food Contest, is an anomaly and the norm.

As a wife and a mother who likes cooking, Berepele is a conformist. Indeed, not all women like to cook, but Berepele has stated her love for cooking, at least for her family. She is however an anomaly when compared to her generation.

Observation indicates that Korean culture enthusiasts in Nigeria, and Abuja in particular, encompass Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. While the last two generations are prone to be active fans of K-Culture, and would often take K-Pop dance classes, taekwondo, join Korean speech contests and master K-Pop singing, generation X tend to be passive lovers of the culture. The most they could do is watch K-Dramas or participate in K-culture workshops. They mayhap will tryout Korean products gifted to them. This is where Berepele differs from her contemporaries.

From the beginning, she stood out among other competitors as the sole married woman and mother in the contest. She is not only a fan of Korean culture, but is particularly drawn to Korean cuisines (Hansik) which the “rich flavours, vibrant colours and philosophy of mindful eating resonates with her on a very personal level”.

That journey began after she watched the K-Drama, ‘Jewel In The Palace’. Berepele was captivated by the art of balancing flavours and the emphasis on health and harmony in Korean cooking. “Hansik tradition reflects a philosophy of mindful eating and the importance of food as a connection to conscious living, culture and community.”

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Thus, when informed of the food contest, she signed up, and began using ‘Jang’ (Korean sauce) ingredients gifted participants at the first cooking class to practice the ‘Gochujang Jjigae’ (Korea stew). An inflationary economy which saw a sharp rise in the cost of tomatoes, further saw her substitute tomatoes stew for the Gochujang Jjigae. That meant a lot of practice at home.

“After the first class, I made up my mind about the Korean-Nigerian cuisine fusion that I would prepare at the second round. I gave a lot of time and effort to this contest. My whole family was involved, from eating Korean-Nigerian fusion meals at home, to suggestions on what to prepare and how to prepare them.”

Berepele scaled through the online stage of the competition to the second level with her dish Gochujang Jjigae. Then, past the second level with her fusion cuisine comprising ‘Gochujang Jjigae’ with local ‘Yam Pepper Soup’ and ‘Ugu’ Sauce side dish. She went on to clinch the grand prize of N1m with her Korean main meal – Ssambap and Bulgogi Ssamjang paired with Doenjang Jjigae, and side dishes – Gyeran-mari (rolled omelette), Gaji-namul (steamed eggplant), and Sukju-namul (beans sprout).

With the winning prize under her belt, which she described as “an answered prayer for a family project”, she intends to resurrect her online cooking blog titled, ‘Creative Cook’, and introduce Korean Culinary and Korean-Nigerian fusion cuisines pages to the blog.

Other winners at the contest organized by the Korea Culture Center Nigeria (KCCN), include Engineer and Secondary School Teacher, Victor Mac-Adonai who won second place with a cash prize of N700,000, and software developer, Yahya Bindir who held the third place and a cash prize of N400,000.

Mac-Adonai hopes to kickstart his own Hansik catering or Bukar restaurant in the future. Pleased with the impact of the contest, which had educated more Nigerians about Korean food, KCCN Director, Kim Chang-ki said the center’s ongoing collaboration aims to take the food contest to the next level.