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Place for Gugeolpan |
| Looks so pretty that you would hardly dare to eat it. The various colors on the plate beautifully harmonize. It takes a ... |
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For a beautiful plate and delicious food, try Gugeolpan
Gugeolpan is a dish known to many as cuisine of Korean royalty during the Choseon period (1329 - 1910). It was originally served on a wooden plate with 9 divided sections. This plate was specially designed to have one section in the middle and eight other sections surrounding it.
The reason it was designed in such a special way was to have the various foods separated on the plate. Gugeolpan became the name of the food later. Each section of the plate is filled with various foods such as beef, mushroom, cucumber, carrot, and egg. Placed in the center are 'rice plates' which look like flour tortillas. In fact, Gugeolpan is surprisingly similar to tacos. The foods in the outer eight sections are put on a rice ¡°tortilla¡± and wrapped up nicely to make a complete Gulgeolpan.
When Gugeolpan first arrives on the table, it looks so pretty that you would hardly dare to eat it. The various colors on the plate beautifully harmonize. It takes a long time to prepare this food because all the ingredients are put on the plate in a very beautiful manner.
There is a story about Pearl Buck, the writer of 'The Good Earth¡¯, regarding Gugeolpan. She was so surprised by the beautiful appearance that she couldn't stop praising it when she first was served Guleolpan. She compared the harmonization of nine colors on the plate to a drawing and said, "I don't want to destroy this food by eating it", and never did eat it.
Gugeolpan is also said to perfectly indicate Korea's philosophy of harmonization. While some say that Gulgeolpan is simply a dish offered to ancient kings. As you can see, Gugeolpan is a unique food that represents the culture and image of Korea. There is no food like it in the world and helps make it the pride of Korea. |
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