[Opinion] A Man Who Cooks

Violinist Bae Ik-hwan, who used to host a cruise concert on Hudson River in the late 1980s, has a hobby of cooking. Bae, being a cash-strapped student, often visited his American patron to cook for the whole family. To Bae, food was a means of expressing gratitude. There were few Korean men at that time who would say explicitly ˝my hobby is cooking.˝ Now, it is a different story. We now see quite a few men saying their hobbies are cooking. It seems that Korean men begin to change their way of seeing the family system as hierarchical.

World`s renowned conductor Jung Myung-hoon is also known to enjoy cooking very much, When he stays at home, he hardly gives his wife a chance to cook, Jung confesses. He recently wrote a cook book titled `Jung Myung-hoon`s Dinner for 8.’ The title reflects his way of seeing happiness in life, according to the conductor, that is serving his family. “Cooking enriches and fulfills my life.” He plans to hold an autography event at Kyobo Bookstore in Seoul on Sept. 1. Then, people might find Jung as a cook who loves music, rather than a musician who loves to cook.

Taste of food is bound to differ depending on who makes it, even if ingredients used for the dish are all the same. There are too many variants that decide the taste, from the process of cooking to color of the food and bowls containing it. And many praise cooking is an intellectual art, citing you can be as creative as you can when cooking. The key is love and sincerity. If you feel genuinely happy when you watch people enjoying your dishes, you must know what cooking is about.

There is an old German saying, “A good cook is like a good doctor.” Then a man cooking for his family must be a messenger of happiness who makes people around him feel happy. Having a meal prepared by the husband and father, the family has not only food but also happiness. Then, the world must become a happier place to live when more men begin to cook for their families. It is time to quit thinking that men should stay away from the kitchen. And I would like to urge many Korean men out there to try cooking for their families beginning this weekend.

Song Moon-hong, Editorial Writer, songmh@donga.com