Latest news with #CulinaryRevolution
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
European Premium Meats From Poland – a Modern Choice for Korean Kitchens
SEOUL, South Korea, July 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sometimes, the most remarkable culinary revolutions happen not with bold innovations, but with quiet refinements. As European premium meats enter Korean kitchens, they introduce new depths of purity, flavor, and responsibility to recipes long cherished. Driving this new connection is the EU Good Food – Good Life (2024–2027) campaign, an initiative Co-funded by the European Union to introduce Korean consumers, chefs, and food professionals to Europe's premium meats and fruits. At its core lies a philosophy that has long defined Europe's food identity: uncompromising standards for safety, animal welfare, nutrition, and sustainability. Few products exemplify this commitment more clearly than European pork and beef two of the EU's most highly regarded exports. The use of growth hormones and preventive antibiotics, still permitted in many regions, is categorically prohibited under European law. Instead, producers adhere to strict breeding protocols, carefully formulated nutrition, and natural husbandry standards, delivering products of consistently superior result of this meticulous care goes beyond safety. It delivers meat that consistently reflects purity, nutritional value, and a natural, clean flavor. Animal welfare is not an afterthought but a foundation. The Five Freedoms (freedom from hunger, discomfort, pain, fear, and the ability to express natural behavior) are enshrined in law, guiding how animals are raised, transported, and cared for. This ethical approach is matched by rigorous traceability systems: EU certifications allow every cut of meat to be traced back through each stage of its journey, offering full transparency to both buyers and consumers. European farmers operate under some of the strictest food safety rules in the world. Growth hormones and preventive antibiotics are prohibited, animal welfare is protected under the Five Freedoms, and every stage of production - from feed to processing - is carefully monitored under EU certification systems. The result is meat that's not only safe but naturally flavorful. For Korean chefs and home cooks alike, high-quality European beef and pork present exciting new culinary possibilities. In dishes like bulgogi, tender cuts of European beef absorb marinades beautifully, bringing out layered flavors and a melt-in-the-mouth texture. Beef shank yields gomtang broths that are rich yet refined, with a clean finish that highlights the meat's natural essence. European pork also complements Korean cuisine exceptionally well - its pork belly offers the perfect fat-to-meat ratio for crisp, aromatic samgyeopsal, while pork collar brings deep, savory notes to kimchi jjigae, enhancing the dish's overall balance and richness. As younger generations grow more conscious about what goes on their plates, concerns over food safety, ethical sourcing, and transparency have taken center stage in Korea. Europe's strict regulatory environment meets these expectations with assurances that span from farm to plate. These principles of production also reflect Europe's broader sustainability goals. Under the ambitious European Green Deal, the EU is actively working toward climate-neutral agriculture and sustainable food systems by 2050. This future-oriented vision aligns closely with the values of many Korean partners - both consumers and businesses - who recognize that long-term food security must balance economic, environmental, and ethical considerations. For Korean importers, distributors, and food professionals, European premium meats offer not only product quality but also reliability and partnership potential. Stable supply chains, consistent production standards, and alignment with globally recognized certifications allow Korean companies to meet rising consumer expectations while diversifying their sourcing strategies with trusted partners. As global food markets continue to evolve, the growing exchange between Europe and Korea is a testament to how culinary traditions can respect their roots while embracing shared values of safety, responsibility, and innovation. When pure ingredients meet masterful preparation, even the most familiar dishes find new depth - by quietly elevating what they've always been. For more information, please visit: Media contact: biuro@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in to access your portfolio
BBC News
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Vijay Kumar: The Indian chef who took Tamil fare global and won a 'food Oscar'
In Manhattan's West Village, where culinary trends can change with the seasons, Chef Vijay Kumar is shaping a quiet revolution. His 2025 James Beard Award win for Best Chef: New York State this month is more than just personal recognition - it marks a cultural inflection point. Chennai-based culinary historian Rakesh Raghunathan says: "Following in the footsteps of fellow Tamil-origin recipients like Raghavan Iyer and Padma Lakshmi, Vijay Kumar's recognition reflects a growing momentum for south Indian voices on the global culinary stage". "Tamil cuisine - along with Sri Lankan Tamil and other south Indian regional traditions - is increasingly being embraced by global diners as something refined, rich, and deeply rooted in culture."Born in the small farming village of Arasampatti, Madurai in southern Tamil Nadu, the 44-year-old Kumar has always cooked from memory - of forests and foraging, firewood stoves and his mother and grandmother serving meals made from scratch for the he took the stage at the JB awards ceremony, he said "the food I grew up on, the food made with care, with fire, with soul is now taking the main stage". It was a moment of deep emotion and cultural pride for Kumar. "There is no such thing as a poor person's food, or a rich person's food. It's food. It's powerful. And the real luxury is to be able to connect with each other around the dinner table." For Kumar, the win is a personal milestone but also a powerful act of visibility. "When I started cooking, I never thought a dark-skinned boy from Tamil Nadu could make it to a room like this," he said in his acceptance speech. It was therefore important for him to wear veshti, the traditional Tamil attire for men, for the black-tie James Beard ceremony as a nod to his Kumar was trolled by a pair of influencers in New York. Quick to rise to his defence was Padma Lakshmi, cookbook author and culinary ambassador, who called the influencers out for their cultural to the BBC, Lakshmi said "Vijay's story is important not just for south Indian food but also as a story of someone who grew up with humble means and cooked with limited resources." "This resourcefulness has not only propelled his work ethic but enhanced his sense of flavour, ingredients and sense of the world. He is a beacon of hope to young people all over the world that if you trust and develop your senses and skills, you can go far in a creative career."Kumar's journey wasn't smooth to start with. Unable to afford engineering school in the big city, he chose culinary school instead - beginning his journey at Taj Connemara hotel in Chennai, cooking his way through cruise ships and kitchens, and eventually finding his promised land in America, working at Dosa in San Francisco. His real breakthrough came when he partnered with Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya of Unapologetic Foods, a New York restaurant group, to open Semma - a Tamil slang word for "fantastic" in 2021. The trio found a "shared sense of wanting to honour our heritage, to tell the world who we really are through our cuisine". "At that moment, it wasn't just about food, it was about identity," Mazumdar told the BBC. "For too long, Indian food in the US has lived under the veil of a manufactured, watered-down north-western lens. With Semma, we set out to pull back that curtain and share something more honest."Kumar jumped at the opportunity to share his cuisine with the world. "His eyes lit up when we started talking about the food we grew up eating, and that kind of food rarely makes it to restaurant menus," recalls strength lies in serving authentic village food that is seasonal, hyper-local, and built entirely from scratch. His farm-to-table approach, he says, was to cook the way "my mother and grandmother did". Semma, he adds, is a celebration of that simplicity resonates. Semma's menu defies the clichés that often define Indian food abroad. There's no butter chicken or naan here and Kumar's epiphany came with an unlikely encounter: French escargot. As a child, on days when rice was scarce, he would forage with his family for snails in the paddy fields, which would be cooked in a savoury tamarind sauce. Kumar admitted that he was ashamed of it as a boy as it "felt like food born of poverty - until I saw the pride with which the French serve escargot". Today, the dish, nathai pirattal, sits proudly on Semma's menu, reimagined not as a memory of scarcity, but as a symbol of resilience and cultural pride. Semma's menu - pepper rasam, tamarind crab, banana flower vadai, the ubiquitous dosa - offer an emotional connection for many diaspora diners, and a revelation for first-timers. Kumar's intention to bring village-style Tamil food and showcase it in upscale spots and in the cut-throat New York restaurant space has won a long line of admirers. There's depth, regionality and a powerful emotional connection in this food. The cocktails are a nod to Tamil film stars like Rajnikanth and Silk Smitha, and the décor channels Chennai's warmth. Even the kitchen is a space of intention - cooks are asked to prepare food with "gratitude and mindfulness"."I invited him to curate a black-tie gala dinner for 650 guests at the Gold Gala in Los Angeles, and he made us all proud. A year later, people still talk about how incredible the food was," says Lakshmi, applauding Kumar's gift for bringing regional Indian cuisine to the most glamorous awards and accolades feel like a natural progression of his journey. Semma is the first New York restaurant serving only south Indian cuisine to win a Michelin star and topped The New York Times's list for top 100 restaurants. And now the JBA for many ways, Kumar is not just serving food - he is serving memory, pride and a quiet revolution. His James Beard win is a recognition of his talent, but also an affirmation that regional Indian cuisine, with its bold spices and soulful simplicity, belongs at the centre of the global win has piqued the "curiosity of young people from all over the Indian diaspora and instilled a greater pride in our food ways", says Lakshmi. "This will be his greatest legacy."Adds Mazumdar, "This win is a signal that regionality matters, and that our stories and our roots have value on the world stage."
