Korean food to be served at int'l food festival

SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- Traditional Korean dishes that best represent the country's culinary culture will be served at the international hotel, catering and food trade exhibition in Lyon, France, the government said Sunday.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it will open a
Korean food pavilion at Sirha 2009 that will highlight food served during the
four seasons, including "bibimbap," or steamed rice mixed with assorted
vegetables, mung bean jelly served with beef, oyster-cooked rice and rice cakes.
The event is one of the largest food exhibitions in the world and will be held
for five days starting on Jan. 24.
A performance of "Nanta" -- a musical comedy that makes use of various cooking
utensils as instruments -- will be performed on Press Day scheduled for Jan. 26,
Lunar New Year, the ministry added.
There will also be a presentation explaining the various health benefits that can
be derived from eating Korean food as well as taste testing.
A chef from the famous Le Cordon Bleu is expected to demonstrate ways of
incorporating kimchi in French food. Kimchi is a spicy, fermented side dish made
with cabbage, radishes and cucumber that is eaten with almost every Korean meal.
In addition to these events, Daesang Corp., Genesis BBQ, CJ Group, Sempio Foods
Co. and Sinan Made Co. will show off dishes such as Korean-style fried chicken,
chilli paste, soy sauce and high quality sun-dried sea salt.
Seoul has said it wants to build up the local food industry into a leading source
of exports that can help local farmers find an outlet for their products in the
face of cheap imports.
The country exported a record US$4.4 billion worth of goods in 2008 and aims to
increase the figure to $5.3 billion this year by improving quality and overseas
marketing efforts.