Today we met at Emese’s place to focus on German culture. We cooked two dishes: the first one was Austrian—Flädlesuppe, and the second one was German—Semmelknödel with mushroom cream sauce. It was also Emese’s first time making these dishes; usually, her father prepares them. The same will happen to me! This experience really helps us gain autonomy and wisdom. We’re no longer pampered and have to do everything ourselves, which I find enriching. The Knödel was my favorite dish. It involves cutting old bread into pieces, mixing it with onions, parsley, breadcrumbs, and milk. We then formed balls and cooked them for 20 minutes in salted water.
During our discussions that evening, I noticed that coming from a European country made things easier, as we had some shared notions and references. Minju was making the pancake batter for the soup, and Emese wanted to tell her to mix quickly and be careful with lumps, but she didn’t know the word for “lumps” in English. I understood immediately because I knew what the final consistency should be. In English, there’s just one word—pancake—but in our languages, we have 2 different types. In France, we have “crêpes,” called pancakes in English, but they’re very thin, and most people, especially outside Europe, don’t realize that.
We listened to German music while cooking, which led to discussions about different music genres. Yang played me a French song written by a Korean artist, I played Emese the only German song I knew, and we shared music with each other. Although we didn’t know each other’s music most of the time, there were some classics like YMCA and La Macarena that were familiar to everyone.
This evening put a bit of pressure on me because I’m next to present my country’s cuisine. French cuisine is entirely different from what we’ve tried so far. I found, and Minju and Yang confirmed, that the Austrian soup was quite similar to a Korean dish. We don’t really have anything similar in France. Our dishes are much more elaborate—they often take a long time to cook, especially meat dishes that simmer for entire days. I also think our dishes are richer and less healthy, at least the typical ones. I hope they’ll still enjoy French food, even though it’s different from what they’re used to.
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