Monk Jeong Kwan to visit New York to give lecture, hold class on Korean temple food

Buddhist monk Jeong Kwan [KOREAN FOOD PROMOTION INSTITUTE]

Buddhist monk Jeong Kwan will be holding classes about Korean temple food in New York City from Thursday to Friday.

Jointly organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korean Food Promotion Institute, the lectures tackle the theme of sustainable Korean cuisine. Jeong Kwan is set to speak about the subject and demonstrate how to make various vegan Korean temple foods.

Jeong Kwan is the abbot of Chunjinam Hermitage at Baekyang Temple in South Jeolla, where she has been residing in near isolation from society since she was 17.

She was brought into the public spotlight in 2015 by French chef and Buddhist monk Eric Ripert, who tasted her food at Baekyang Temple and invited her to New York to cook for selected guests at his restaurant, Le Bernardin. There, Jeong Kwan's food enchanted New York Times reporter Jeff Gordinier, who wrote an article on her in the same year. Nicknamed the "philosopher chef" in the Times article, the Buddhist monk became a sensation in the culinary world for her exquisite dishes and spiritual approach to food.

She rose to wider fame after appearing on an episode of the Netflix series "Chef's Table" in 2017, an Emmy award-winning documentary series about chefs around the globe. Last year, she was awarded the prestigious Icon Award of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.

Jeong Kwan will be speaking on Thursday at the Culinary Institute of America in front of some 100 students and faculty. On Friday, she will speak to some 60 industry experts, journalists and residents at the Yondu Culinary Studio.

"Recently, the gastro industry has been interested in the sustainability of the environment in which food is made and consumed," Korean Food Promotion Institute's President Yim Kyeong-sook said in Monday's press release. "Through this event, we will strive to make the healthy appeal of temple food, which represents Korean vegetarianism."

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]