Wednesday Gourmet (Wednesday Food Talk / 수요미식회)

Welcome to the 214th episode of Wednesday Food Talk.

Welcome. - Welcome.

Today's theme is...

a small extravagance you can have after a meal.

Imagine having a bite of sweet cake and refreshing ice cream...

as a side. Starting from Western desserts...

to crispy Korean hangwa.

Korean desserts include...

this cup of sweet sikhye with ice.

It's the War of Desserts that'd make you taste something sweet...

just from imagining it.

We have two guests...

who are good with desserts.

He's a handsome chef with soft and sweet charms.

Please welcome Seo Hyun Myong.

Hello. I'm a chef who is also a food consultant, Seo Hyun Myong.

Your pronunciation wasn't so clear because you were nervous.

What he said was quite unclear.

His throat must be getting dry.

I think he's too nervous.

Unlike her fresh and cute looks, she eats quite a lot.

She's one of the celebrities who loves desserts.

Please welcome Park Bo Ram.

Hello. I'm Park Bo Ram.

Chef Seo Hyun Myong is a true dessert lover.

You're the type who would always...

have a piece of chocolate after a meal.

That's right. When I was a kid,

my father used to work...

in a confectionery department at a hotel.

He always came home with his hands full of desserts.

He always brought some bread and desserts.

My mother and my uncle used to run a bakery as well.

That probably influenced me a lot.

Kids usually play with sand in a playground.

But I played with flour as a kid.

Old habits die hard.

I started having desserts when I was little,

and I still have desserts today.

Goodness. So what was the most impressive dessert?

These days, a lot of people make cakes with animal fat.

Animal fat whipped cream wasn't so common then.

I had this buttercream cake that was made...

with 100 percent butter from milk.

It was very rich.

It had a strong milk flavor.

I was very impressed by the cake. I just couldn't stop eating it.

I remember my mother stopping me...

from eating this cake by hitting me on my back.

But you had a different one, which is from a hotel.

That's right. - Yes.

Bo Ram looks really fresh and cute on the outside.

But I hear your dessert preference is just like an old lady's.

An old lady? - My grandparents raised me.

They used to give me...

small Korean pumpkin taffies wrapped in plastic bags.

I used to carry them in my pockets.

Pumpkin taffies.

I used to eat that a lot.

Like he said, old habits die hard.

I still have yakgwa and taffies.

It's hard for those in their 20s to enjoy yakgwa these days.

I don't think many of them even know what that is.

Don't you like cakes?

I barely have cakes. I don't even have them on my birthday.

I don't like cakes that much. - Do you only have rice cakes?

I have regular rice cakes.

I don't like rice cakes that are made like cakes.

She has that old appetite. - It's not traditional enough.

I like the true flavors of rice cakes.

Some people prefer having Korean desserts.

Jung Min, do you like Korean desserts more too?

Now that I think about it...

We visit grandparents in the rural area during school vacation.

There's this hangwa that's only made during winter.

It's called sanja. My grandmother used to make it for me.

She'd use the glutinous rice flour and starchy water to make the dough,

coat the dough with flour, and cut them in squares.

Then, she'd put them on a warm part of the floor and let them harden.

Afterward, they would get firm.

After removing the flour, she'd deep-fry them.

When you deep-fry them, the dough blows up like this.

After deep-frying them, she'd coat them with grain syrup or taffy.

Then, she'd sprinkle rice puffs on them.

To be honest, sanja is tasty. - Yes, indeed.

It's tasty. And it's not that filling.

Once you eat it, you keep eating. - Right.

You have to melt and eat the pieces stuck in your teeth later.

That's so true. - I knew it.

Seok Jin indeed represents a delicate palate of men.

Since he's an actor, he acted out the scene.

That's method acting.

Chan Il. As for desserts,

I'm sure you like Korean desserts.

No, I actually often eat Western desserts.

Stop lying. - Why are you saying that?

What's your favorite dessert then?

My favorite dessert is cannoli. - Cannoli.

I can eat that while walking on the street.

Ricotta cheese goes inside the fried pastry dough.

It's really good.

This dessert might be unfamiliar to you,

but this shows up in the movie, "The Godfather".

It originated from Sicily... - It's used to poison someone.

It's used to poison someone? - Yes.

That's so not appetizing.

I watched all of the Godfather series, but why can't I remember?

It's an authentic Italian dessert from Sicily...

that's been passing down onto generations for a long time.

First, they roll the biscuit dough into a round layer...

and deep-fry it once.

So Eun, you like Western desserts too, don't you?

Yes. When we go to a cafe, rice cake isn't that accessible.

It's hard to find Korean desserts,

so I often have Western desserts.

The most memorable dessert was...

It was my first time having the red velvet cake.

The very first taste of the cake was intense for me.

It didn't taste like strawberries or blueberries.

I'd never tasted anything like it before. It tasted like raspberries.

But it also tasted slightly like chocolate.

The cream was thick, and the cream tasted like cream cheese.

It was so good. It wasn't that sweet either.

Seok Jin, do you like Western desserts too?

I'm more familiar with cakes...

than traditional Korean desserts. - Right.

The word, dessert, itself is English.

If we were to have Palate Cleanser Special,

I would have thought about Korean sweets.

"Palate Cleanser"?

But it's Dessert Special. - Sikhye is the best.

I thought about the first time I'd ever tasted a dessert.

When I was in 11th grade, I went on a date...

with a girl for the very first time.

You grew up quickly. - On that date...

What's up with the vibe here?

He was in 11th grade. That's not early to go on dates.

When was your first date then? - Pardon?

These days, ninth graders... - But he's not young anymore.

No, I'm young.

The 2nd semester of 9th grade is a good time for 1st dates.

That will be a fine start. - Yes.

On that date, I went to a cafe in my area for the first time...

and had cheese cake for the first time.

Until then, I only had sweet cakes...

or bitter chocolate cakes.

That was the first time I tasted a sweet and salty cake.

I tasted the soft and salty flavor of cheese...

with the cake for the first time that day.

Nowadays, there are a lot of dessert cafes.

And the dessert fads change faster than fashion now.

Right. - What's a trending dessert?

Lately, tea food is trending.

Even in Korea,

the culture of drinking tea has established.

Because of that culture, baked goods...

that you can eat with the tea are very popular.

A lot of you may know madeleine.

Scones are also popular too.

Those are very popular these days. - That's right.

They are classic French desserts.