City of Seoul Presents SWEET SEOUL-Free 2-Day Korean Pastry Pop-up Exhibition and Tasting

The City of Seoul will present "Sweet Seoul," a free two-day Korean pastry pop up exhibition and tasting spotlighting five Korean pastry chefs. The two-city pop up will kick off in Paris at L'Appartement Lafayette and end in New York at two Michelin-starred Jungsik on November 20th from 11am-4pm and 21st from 1pm-4pm.

The tasting event at Jungsik will spotlight the following culinary concepts from Seoul showcasing healthy and unique rice-based desserts for one hour each in the following order:

• Dongbyung Sangryoun: A Korean dessert café owned by Park Kyung-mi, the apprentice and master of Joseon Dynasty royal cuisine, showcases Chinese quince tea, as well as five-color half-moon rice cakes, green tea flavored tea cakes, pan-fried rice cakes and candied balloon flower roots
• Biwon: A rice cake shop that opened in 1949 with 70 years of tradition. Using local ingredients like walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, cinnamon, jujubes, honey, and yuzu as filling for their popular tuteoptteok that is covered with roasted black adzuki bean paste.
• Gangjeong House: The pioneers of a genre of Korean dessert called 'Gangjeong', candied rice puffs. They present sweet rice puffs of new combinations that reflect trends such as oatmeal blueberry sweet rice puffs and assorted nut bars covered with chocolate.
• Kimssibooin: A whole table of desserts based on the Joseon culture of preparing one table per person. Signatures of Kimssibooin include Today's Rice Cake, strawberry balls with strawberry filling, candied five-flavor berries, candied apples and fried twist cookies.
• Haap: Chef Shin Yong-il of the dessert café Haap creates rice cakes or sweets that form a union of traditional cooking methods and modern techniques. Signatures of Haap includeGaeseong-style honey cookies, leavened rice cakes and traditional honey cookies.

The chefs' signature dishes will be presented on traditional Korean style small dining tables (soban), bowls with lids (haap), plates, and other tableware, to create a beautiful dessert table.

A range of handicrafts including vases, food trays, and cushions, created by Seoul artists with a modern taste and various materials such as ceramics, glass, fabric, wood, and stone, along with a 3D printer, will also be spotlighted at the exhibition. Handicraft works will be showcased from Jang Hye-gyeong, Kim Sang-in, Ryu Jong-dae, OTTOTT, Mono Collection, OUGLASSWORK,and Yeom Dong-hoon.

After the free events, Korean pastry chefs from Haap, Gangejeong House, Biwon, and Dongbyung Sangryoun will collaborate with Eunji Lee, Executive Pastry Chef of JUNGSIK in the 10 HANDS Collaboration Dessert Tasting. The chefs will present traditional Korean dishes reinterpreted in the western form and Kyungmoon Kim, first and only Master Sommelier certified by The Court of Master Sommelier, will pair traditional Korean beverages to accompany the dessert collaboration. The collaboration, which is only available through advanced reservations, is priced at $85 with an optional wine pairing and starts at 6pm.

Jungsik is located at 2 Harrison Street, New York, NY 10013. For more information on the restaurant, please visit http://jungsik.com/ or call 212.219.0900.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sweet Seoul