What’s kimchi without the strong garlicky odor?  Right?  In this morning’s LA Times, there’s a story about Kim Soon-Ja who is the annointed Kimchi Master of South Korea, and about how she pursued the creation of an odorless kimchi.  This was ignited by a comment during a trip to Europe: ”My tour guide asked me not to take out my kimchi in public because it can be distasteful to foreigners.”  Ouch!

After much research and diligence, she has created a “new type of freeze-dried pickled cabbage that doesn’t smell even after water is added, appealing to both foreigners and the fussiest Korean eaters.”

The obvious reason for such a pursuit is to better globalize kimchi by making it more appealing by the suppression of the kimchi smell.  The South Korean government is making large investments in the midst of the global recession to evangelize Korean food around the world, and kimchi is one of the central pieces of both Korean food and culture.  However, the raging debate from the purist is that the odor of kimchi is what makes kimchi so unique.  Do you take out the olive oil in Italian cooking?  What do you think?  Should kimchi go odorless?  Remember when you were a kid and you invited your non-Korean friends over to the house and your mom busted out the kimchi next to the sandwiches and turkey.

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