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Korea Herald
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Interview: Cultivation of connection
How Buddhist nun, Swiss photographer and Korean German writer bridged cultures through passion for temple cuisine In a quiet residential corner of Jongno, Seoul, the Swiss Embassy building rises like an architectural bridge between cultures — a modern wooden structure placed in conversation with traditional Korean hanok design. It is a deliberate confluence of East and West, traditional and modern, one that mirrors the gathering inside of individuals from disparate worlds who sat down for a chat: a star chef Buddhist nun, a Korean German writer, a photographer from Zurich, a publisher from Basel and the Swiss ambassador. The occasion marked the Korean publication of "Jeongkwan Snim — Her Korean Temple Cuisine," a book five years in the making, originally published in German by Swiss publisher Echtzeit in 2023. Timed with the book's release, the exhibition "Soil" opened this week as part of the embassy's program on environmental conservation, exploring the relationship between humans and earth through Ven. Jeong Kwan's temple cuisine. Inside the embassy's meeting room, Jeong Kwan sits composed in her gray robes. There is a quiet certainty in her presence — an internationally recognized master of temple cuisine who remains firmly rooted in monastic practice. "Temple food is the connection that brings physical and mental energy together," she says, her voice measured and deliberate. "It is about maximizing the taste and nutrition of plant-based ingredients with limited seasoning. That is how we grow." Crossing distances The book's journey embodies its subject matter — cultivation across unlikely terrain. What began as a chance encounter between Seelmann and Jeong Kwan at the Swiss National Museum in 2016 gradually transformed into a collaboration crossing continents. "Between Korea and Switzerland lay immense distance," Jeong Kwan says. "Not just physical distance, but cultural. We overcame this through communication — calls, visits, sharing ideas across time zones." Hoo Nam Seelmann left Korea 50 years ago as a nurse before becoming a journalist and philosopher in Europe. "It was truly a cross-cultural undertaking," she says. "I lived between worlds — interviewing Jeong Kwan, then working with the Swiss publishing house, trying to translate not just language but sensibility." She found herself preserving Korean terms like "suhaengja," a practitioner in Buddhism, in the German text, explaining their meaning rather than reaching for imperfect equivalents. "There were days when I couldn't reach her because she was deep in temple life," Seelmann recalls. "Then there were moments of connection — when we held events in Amsterdam and discussed how we should present the recipes as more than instructions, but as windows into temple life." The pandemic disrupted their timeline, stretching what was already a complex project into a five-year journey. Yet this extended gestation feels appropriate for a book concerned with fermentation, patience and gradual transformation. Ambassador Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli, who observed the project from its inception, sees poetry in this timing: "I met Seelmann in Basel before beginning my posting here. Now, as my term ends, we're celebrating this completion. The connections have come full circle." Philosophical tensions Every collaborative process involves negotiation, and this book was no exception. A tension emerged along the way between Jeong Kwan's spiritual vision and commercial necessity. "I never intended to publish a temple cuisine book in Korea," Jeong Kwan admits. "There are already so many of them. I didn't want to add one more." What persuaded her was Seelmann's approach. "Food is a very old tradition with Buddhism behind it," Seelmann explains. "In Europe, few know Korean Buddhism exists. I wanted to create that framework." Publisher Wendelin Hess smiles in acknowledgment. "We needed recipes for the commercial side — books need to sell. But we built around them: interviews, stories, process. It's not just food, but culture, philosophy, personality." This tension resulted in a richer creation: The book balances cooking instructions with deeper contemplation of Buddhist principles and vivid photographs of daily temple life. Photographer's pilgrimage Perhaps the most revealing relationship formed during the project was between Jeong Kwan and Swiss photographer Veronique Hoegger, who moved to Baekyangsa, a temple in Najangsan National Park, south Jeolla Province, for several months to document the Buddhist nun's daily life. "This whole project was only possible because Jeong Kwan seunim (Korean for monk) was open to it — even though she didn't know me," Hoegger says, her eyes occasionally seeking Jeong Kwan's approval. "I had never been to Korea before. I arrived thinking, 'I've traveled a lot, this will be fine.' But the culture was completely unfamiliar to me." Jeong Kwan interjects with gentle firmness: "When photographers come, they often want to immediately capture images. But I wanted her to first learn our ways — rising early, eating together, moving as one." Hoegger nods enthusiastically. "At first, I felt that maybe seunim wasn't really interested in me as a photographer. But I soon realized — she wanted me to become part of the community. That was the most important thing." When asked if she has advice for Hoegger, Jeong Kwan doesn't hesitate: "As we get older, we start learning that real professionalism includes knowing when to let go. Over these years, you've taken in some of this monastic practice. Continue. Care for your health. Let your inner self rest." Hoegger receives this counsel with visible gratitude. "Every time I see you, I learn something new," she responds. "It's like I forget, and need to learn again and again. But truly, I'm grateful." Return and recognition For Jeong Kwan, the path to becoming an unlikely culinary ambassador began when she noticed Korean Buddhism's absence from a Swiss museum exhibition. "I told them: 'Korean Buddhism is not a relic — it's a living heritage. Our 1,700-year-old practices continue in our cooking, our tea, our daily rhythms.'" She hosted an event for 40 guests to experience temple food. The positive reception led to Seelmann's suggestion of creating a book. Initially reluctant, Jeong Kwan was moved by Seelmann's confession that she wished to leave a meaningful cultural legacy after decades abroad. When Jeong Kwan finally held the finished book, she was struck by its aesthetic: "It's so different from Korean books. Not decorative or polished, like a textbook. Just as things are. It feels authentic." Now, with the release of the Korean edition alongside the exhibition, emotion surfaces in the nun's face. "This book wasn't born from material ambition but from a shared spirit," she says. "Like a child born through spiritual connection. It shows that Buddha's teachings continue to create new paths and expand the heart." She gestures toward the photographs being installed in the embassy courtyard — images of her gardens, her hands preparing food, the vessels of fermenting sauces that have matured over decades. "After all these years of monastic life, to witness new connections still forming — it makes my heart dance," she says. moonkihoon@
Forbes
26-03-2025
- General
- Forbes
NYT ‘Connections' Hints And Answers For Thursday, March 27
Looking for Wednesday's NYT Connections hints and answers instead? You can find them here: Hey, gang! I hope you're having a great week so far. There's something from a truly memorable early episode (the third season, in case you're interested) of the Netflix series Chef's Table that has stuck with me for, jeez, eight years at this point. The episode focuses on Jeong Kwan, a Zen Buddhist nun who cooks vegan meals for her community and visitors, with much of the flavor in her food stemming from fermentation. It's when she talked about the importance of soy sauce that she said something that really struck a chord with me. 'Soy sauce makes me exited just thinking about it,' the chef said. 'Every food is recreated by soy sauce. Soy beans, salt and water, in harmony, through time.' I found those last four words deeply profound. Yes, certain aspects of life and the world around us decay over time, but others become more robust. Not just flavors, but ideas, wisdom, community, resolve, knowledge, relationships. Although almost everything is temporary, the notion that some elements harmonize and strengthen over time is an immensely beautiful one. Before we begin, I've set up a discussion group for NYT Connections and this column on Discord. We have a great little community over there and we chat about more than NYT games. Everyone who has joined has been lovely. It's a fun hangout spot. It's also the best way to give me any feedback about the column, especially on the rare(!) occasions that I mess something up since I don't look at the comments or Twitter much. Today's NYT Connections hints and answers for Thursday, March 27, are coming right up. Connections is a free, popular New York Times daily word game. You get a new puzzle at midnight every day. You can play on the NYT website or Games app. You're presented with a grid of 16 words. Your task is to arrange them into four groups of four by figuring out the links between them. The groups could be things like items you can click, names for research study participants or words preceded by a body part. There's only one solution for each puzzle, and you'll need to be careful when it comes to words that might fit into more than one category. You can shuffle the words to perhaps help you see links between them. Each group is color coded. The yellow group is usually the easiest to figure out, blue and green fall in the middle, and the purple group is usually the most difficult one. The purple group often involves wordplay. Select four words you think go together and press Submit. If you make a guess and you're incorrect, you'll lose a life. If you're close to having a correct group, you might see a message telling you that you're one word away from getting it right, but you'll still need to figure out which one to swap. If you make four mistakes, it's game over. Let's make sure that doesn't happen with the help of some hints, and, if you're really struggling, today's Connections answers. As with Wordle and other similar games, it's easy to share results with your friends on social media and group chats. If you have an NYT All Access or Games subscription, you can access the publication's Connections archive. This includes every previous game of Connections, so you can go back and play any of those that you have missed. Aside from the first 60 games or so, you should be able to find my hints via Google if you need them! Just click here and add the date of the game for which you need clues or the answers to the search query. Scroll slowly! Just after the hints for each of today's Connections groups, I'll reveal what the groups are without immediately telling you which words go into them. Today's 16 words are... And the hints for today's Connections groups are: Need some extra help? Be warned: we're starting to get into spoiler territory. Today's Connections groups are... Spoiler alert! Don't scroll any further down the page until you're ready to find out today's Connections answers. This is your final warning! Today's Connections answers are... I'm so close to matching my all-time best streak after notching up 30 wins thanks to today's perfect game. Here's how I fared: 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 I got the blues right away here and was a little surprised. I thought they'd be green at most. I was thinking of them more as "banking options" in any case. Pretty straightforward. The greens were next up, though it took me a second to recognize that TO BOOT should go with the other three. The yellows gave me pause as well. I was thinking of PUT AWAY in terms of literally putting some aside, but it's a perfectly valid expression for this group. I did figure out the purple connection before submitting it. I wonder how many Connections players are going to blush at the thought of FOREplay. Also, it's quite meta to have a WORDplay reference in the purple group. That's all there is to it for today's Connections clues and answers. Be sure to check my blog tomorrow for hints and the solution for Friday's game if you need them. P.S. Let's wrap up this little run of more melancholy songs with one last one today, because there's other fun stuff I'm hoping to get to soon. (I'm overflowing with recommendation ideas at the minute, so maybe having a newsletter to offer some extra ones could actually work!) I hate clowns. Can't stand 'em. Their cheerful makeup belies an intent that's mischievous at best, murderous at its worst. I have endured too many horror movies with clowns for my own good. But there's something about a sad clown I quite like. There's something more genuine about it, as it's arguably more difficult for such a creature to mask its intentions. Sad clowns make me happy, as does this wonderful ode to one by the magnificent Joe Purdy: Have a great day! Stay hydrated! Call someone you love! If you're so inclined, please follow my blog for more coverage of NYT Connections and other word games and even some video game news, insights and analysis. It helps me out a lot! Sharing this column with other people who play Connections would be appreciated too Also, follow me on Bluesky! It's fun there.
