[K-wave] Can stimulating your taste buds heighten your gugak experience?

Can music stimulate your taste buds? Can flavors heighten your sense of hearing?

Traditional music venues in Korea once had a strict no-food and no-drinks policy, but now some are offering a sip of fragrant tea, traditional Korean snacks, or even a full-course meal before indulging in music performances.

Lee Eun-jin has this report.

Chef Choi Hyun-seok was a 'White Spoon' on the Netflix show "Culinary Class Wars".

Now in a black uniform, he is carefully preparing a full-course meal in a concert hall lobby.

From a "sujebi" vongole to the Korean-style braised radish "mujorim" topped with caviar.

The chef took inspiration from traditional Korean music.

"The main dish is "galbijjim" served with a creamy risotto. I prepared the menu to support the gugak orchestra that's pushing boundaries. For dessert, I used three fermented sauces — doenjang, gochujang, and ganjang."

The audience gathered the night before a grand performance for the 60th anniversary of the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Music Orchestra.

Even though they had to make separate visits two evenings in a row, a full-course meal served by a celebrity chef made it worthwhile.

"I initially thought the meal would be part of the performance tomorrow, so I was curious how the food and show would be connected. But separating them due to time constraints seems like the right choice."

"When I think of fermented sauces, I think of side dishes, not desserts — so I'm looking forward to seeing how they taste."

"It is a little unusual, but it feels like a new kind of experience."

This was the theater testing new limits. In efforts to offer audiences a new way to experience the performing arts, it took a fresh approach of reinterpreting the arts through gastronomy.

"We wanted the theater to be not just a place to watch performances, but somewhere that we can transform into a place for a special experience where a new lifestyle is provided."

This cafe-like setting is actually a concert hall lobby. Unlike the strict no-food, no-beverage rule that we associate with the performance hall scene, the lobby is full of tea and light snacks.

While the no-food, no-beverage policy is still in place inside the concert hall, the refreshments in the lobby enhance the audiences' experience of the Korean traditional gugak music concert.

"It's a performance that blends storytelling with gugak. We invite prominent figures from a range of fields. Since food isn't allowed inside the concert hall, we provide it in the lobby, making it more comfortable for the audience."

With a new guest speaker every month, the taste of traditional tea before a gugak performance will be very different from the taste of coffee before a classical orchestra performance.

"There's such a widespread coffee culture in Korea. But here, they serve pu'er and chrysanthemum tea, along with delicious rice cakes. It makes the performance even more satisfying — it's emotionally enriching and very affordable."

This new experience is expected to draw curious audiences into the world of traditional Korean music.

A series of monthly "tea talks" will be held at the National Gugak Center every last Wednesday of the month, where tea is served before a special guest speaker, followed by a traditional gugak performance.

The guest for May is Jung Jae-hwan, the co-representative of the Hangul Cultural Solidarity.

Lee Eunjin, Arirang News.