About this Project

For the final project of an introductory seminar called The Science Behind Haute Cuisine, we were free to pursue any food- or cooking-related interest of our choice. At the time, MasterClass had discounted their year-long subscription cost to $1 for university students, and I came across Niki Nakayama’s course on Modern Japanese Cooking. I first was introduced to this Michelin-starred chef through the Netflix show Chef’s Table, and since then, Niki Nakayama has been one of my culinary heroes. Her specialty is modern Japanese kaiseki cuisine, which is a series of small, intricate dishes that typically highlight seasonal or local ingredients. I was curious as to whether Korean food could be presented in a similar fashion — Korean food generally has a very home-y feel to it, and it can be quite pungent and indulgent — a direct contrast to the light, elegant dishes presented in Japanese kaiseki. So for my final project, I wanted to combine these two worlds to develop and illustrate a course menu of Korean classics inspired by kaiseki and Chef Nakayama’s MasterClass.