Chef Edward Lee swaps pan for pen in cookbook and memoir 'Smoke & Pickles'
Published: 08 Jan. 2025, 14:45
Updated: 08 Jan. 2025, 15:07
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- LEE JIAN
- [email protected]
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
[Interview]
![Korean cover of ″Smoke & Pickles″ (2013), released Jan. 8 under local publisher Wisdom House [WISDOM HOUSE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/08/8babc05a-3983-4404-b822-085d8688efa7.jpg)
“Food and life stories by chef Lee Kyun.”
When “Culinary Class Wars” (2024) finalist Edward Lee saw this subheading freshly printed on the Korean cover of his 2013 cookbook-slash-essay, “Smoke & Pickles,” he could not hold back his tears.
“It was a completely new and unexpected feeling to see my name printed in Korean,” the 53-year-old chef said to the press in a video call from his home in Washington on Monday.
![Chef Edward Lee [WISDOM HOUSE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/08/2391e413-da8a-4bfb-94c2-149a9d26222a.jpg)
The book's Korean translation, released Wednesday by local publisher Wisdom House, features recipes inspired by pickling, fermenting, frying, curing and smoking. These culinary techniques reflect the author’s multifaceted background as a Korean American born in Brooklyn and later rooted in Louisville, Kentucky, where he operates the upscale Southern restaurant 610 Magnolia.
“When I study food from Korea and the food from America’s South, I get the feeling that our world is very connected,” he said. “Humans all eat different things, but I think the way we eat is similar. American Southerners eat meat, cornbread, pickles and vegetables, and they eat this all together, like Koreans who eat galbi [marinated and grilled short ribs], bap [rice], kimchi, and namul [seasoned vegetables] in a single meal. Interestingly, we consume food using similar yet various methods.”
“Smoke & Pickles” delves into Lee’s memory of his grandmother cooking him naembibap, or clay pot rice, which he calls his soul food.
“We would eat doenjang jjigae [soybean stew], kkakdugi [radish kimchi], jangjorim [braised beef in soy sauce], and, if there is a special occasion, galbi as well,” Lee reminisced. “My grandmother generally made simple yet comforting dishes like miyeok guk [seaweed soup] and juk [rice porridge], but she wouldn’t follow a recipe. She would cook with her sonmat.” Sonmat, which literally translates to “hand taste,” is a uniquely Korean term that indicates the singular flavor of a cook as a result of the skill or care they put into their food.
“I still incorporate my grandmother’s cooking in my own from memory,” Lee added.
![Edward Lee cooks as a contestant in ″Culinary Class Wars,″ a 2014 Netflix cooking survival show. [NEFTLIX]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/08/73ac1ec4-375e-4075-9cca-b6b83790dee2.jpg)
He is a veteran chef with over three decades of professional experience, but Lee is devoted to inventing new dishes.
“Food is my identity,” said Lee. “If I mature, my cooking changes as well. If there is one rule that I follow as a chef, it is to be adventurous. I don't want to be someone who repeats his recipes. I want to cook something new, forever.”
He is currently developing a dish incorporating omija, or magnolia berries.
Earning a bachelor's degree in literature from New York University, Lee’s first passion is food, but he is also an avid writer.
“For me, the most superior art is cooking, and then it is writing. Music, fine art, dance — there are many great kinds of art, but I am most inspired by cooking and writing.”
“Smoke & Pickles” is his first book. He has published two more since: “Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine” (2018) and “Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey, with 50 recipes” (2024). They are set to be published in Korean in March and May, respectively.
For “Smoke & Pickles,” Lee worked on the book from 11 p.m. until dawn, when “no one could bother me,” he said.
“It wasn’t easy, but when you truly love something and have passion, you can make the time, even if you’re busy.”
BY HONG JI-YU, LEE JIAN [[email protected]]
Korean cover of ″Smoke & Pickles″ (2013), released Jan. 8 under local publisher Wisdom House [WISDOM HOUSE]
“Food and life stories by chef Lee Kyun.”
When “Culinary Class Wars” (2024) finalist Edward Lee saw this subheading freshly printed on the Korean cover of his 2013 cookbook-slash-essay, “Smoke & Pickles,” he could not hold back his tears.
“It was a completely new and unexpected feeling to see my name printed in Korean,” the 53-year-old chef said to the press in a video call from his home in Washington on Monday.
Chef Edward Lee [WISDOM HOUSE]
The book's Korean translation, released Wednesday by local publisher Wisdom House, features recipes inspired by pickling, fermenting, frying, curing and smoking. These culinary techniques reflect the author’s multifaceted background as a Korean American born in Brooklyn and later rooted in Louisville, Kentucky, where he operates the upscale Southern restaurant 610 Magnolia.
“When I study food from Korea and the food from America’s South, I get the feeling that our world is very connected,” he said. “Humans all eat different things, but I think the way we eat is similar. American Southerners eat meat, cornbread, pickles and vegetables, and they eat this all together, like Koreans who eat galbi [marinated and grilled short ribs], bap [rice], kimchi, and namul [seasoned vegetables] in a single meal. Interestingly, we consume food using similar yet various methods.”
“Smoke & Pickles” delves into Lee’s memory of his grandmother cooking him naembibap, or clay pot rice, which he calls his soul food.
“We would eat doenjang jjigae [soybean stew], kkakdugi [radish kimchi], jangjorim [braised beef in soy sauce], and, if there is a special occasion, galbi as well,” Lee reminisced. “My grandmother generally made simple yet comforting dishes like miyeok guk [seaweed soup] and juk [rice porridge], but she wouldn’t follow a recipe. She would cook with her sonmat.” Sonmat, which literally translates to “hand taste,” is a uniquely Korean term that indicates the singular flavor of a cook as a result of the skill or care they put into their food.
“I still incorporate my grandmother’s cooking in my own from memory,” Lee added.
Edward Lee cooks as a contestant in ″Culinary Class Wars,″ a 2014 Netflix cooking survival show. [NEFTLIX]
He is a veteran chef with over three decades of professional experience, but Lee is devoted to inventing new dishes.
“Food is my identity,” said Lee. “If I mature, my cooking changes as well. If there is one rule that I follow as a chef, it is to be adventurous. I don't want to be someone who repeats his recipes. I want to cook something new, forever.”
He is currently developing a dish incorporating omija, or magnolia berries.
Earning a bachelor's degree in literature from New York University, Lee’s first passion is food, but he is also an avid writer.
“For me, the most superior art is cooking, and then it is writing. Music, fine art, dance — there are many great kinds of art, but I am most inspired by cooking and writing.”
“Smoke & Pickles” is his first book. He has published two more since: “Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef's Journey to Discover America's New Melting-Pot Cuisine” (2018) and “Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey, with 50 recipes” (2024). They are set to be published in Korean in March and May, respectively.
For “Smoke & Pickles,” Lee worked on the book from 11 p.m. until dawn, when “no one could bother me,” he said.
“It wasn’t easy, but when you truly love something and have passion, you can make the time, even if you’re busy.”
BY HONG JI-YU, LEE JIAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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