YJL

Kimchi Chronicles is a PBS television show in 2011:

… part travelogue, part food narrative, and part documentary of self-discovery.

The show is presented by Marja Vongerichten with her husband, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, a French chef based in America. They visited Korea with their daughter, went to producers or restaurants with special guests, cooked and showcased dishes and recipes.

The opening of the show

I didn’t know about the couple, but the opening gives a quick introduction about the background of them. It’s kind of sad to hear about her, even we didn’t really know what happened exactly. Through out the show you could hear some pieces of stories about how she reconnected to her birth family.

However I did know of Hugh Jackman and Heather Graham, they were featured in the show. Hugh Jackman is a neighbor of Vongerichtens, and Heather Graham is Marja’s friend, they traveled together in Korea for the show.

Hugh Jackman is trying to hijack the show and claim the kitchen

Honestly, Wolverine and X-Men ain’t my taste of films, so I don’t know anything about the films. But after watching the show, you know actor on screen and in real life is really different. Wolverine must be tough, but in real life, Hugh Jackman is scared of heat, hot spicy food. It’s so funny to see him asking about how hot the chili paste could be with a nervous face.

The show consists of 13 episodes and covers many different aspects about Korea, such as kimchi, rice, or noodles. I’d really like to see it has more than just one season, you simply can’t know about a country or culture with only 13 30-minute episodes.

I was looking forward to the first episode about kimchi because I began my journey to fermentation, but the knowledge and history just can’t be delivered within that short period of time, even the rest of episode often mention it.

Nonetheless, it’s still a good show and worth checking out.