The first two weeks of April I was in South Korea on a family trip. The whole gang was there: my Mom, Dad, sister Melissa and her family. It was my first time back in Korea in twenty five years.
The last time I was there, Y2K was a serious threat and I had braces. I remember listening to Baduizm on my Discman on repeat (also, some ska CDs, but we won't get into that). On that trip I felt like a foreigner in a foreign land. Twenty five years later, back in Korea, no braces this time, and I found myself feeling more connected to this distant homeland than I ever expected.
Old Seoul was our homebase for the trip, but with Kurt behind the wheel of a sweet diesel Kia minivan we drove 200 miles southeast to Gyeongju, my family’s ancestral homeland to visit my uncle and the historic Buddhist temples. Driving across the country, I was struck at how mountainous it is (70% of the country is mountains), as well as how good the truck-stop food is.
Sure enough there was a McDonalds, but it was empty. The real action was at the cafeteria serving Korean staples- spicy stews, nourishing soup, and bibimbap. All served with banchan (반찬, small plates): kimchi, fermented garlic, and a multitude of greens or namul.
In Korean, namul (나물) refers to edible greens, from the leaves to the roots, foraged in the wild (and now cultivated): mugwort, wild aster, minari, doraji (bellflower root), mountain garlic (Korean ramps!) to name a few.
Namul also refers to banchan made from these greens, with simple seasoning, usually sesame oil, soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, a little garlic, scallion, and sometimes gochugaru. From the finest restaurants to the homestyle food served in the many food stalls we visited- they all included some form of namul.
It’s spring in Athens, which means the talk in town has turned to fishing spots, frog songs, morels, and ramp patches!
I made sure to plan our trip around ramp season. I really really love ramps. Since moving to Athens three years ago, foraging, fermentation, and preserving has become an important part of my life and it’s that way for most of my friends here. These practices have deepened my relationship to the land, the seasons, and surprisingly my Korean heritage. It’s funny how things work out.
It’s fitting that we’re kicking off our first week back at the Athens Farmers Market with ramp dumplings. This week’s dumplings feature locally sourced veggies from Shade River Farm, Chesterhill Produce Auction, and heritage breed pork from Rockcamp Farms.
See ya at the market!
-Irene
p.s. We will be making some fresh napa kimchi next week thanks to a successful early crop of cabbage from Larry and Kim Cowdery!