Crawling delicacy

South Korea is a country full of colours. These include the colours of lanterns glowing in the night, the fiery colours of leaves falling in autumn. But most of all, this nation can be characterized by the variety of its cuisine. After enjoying ddeok, a rice cake filled with all sorts of flavours, for breakfast, you can grab a quick lunch in the form of a rice hamburger and later enjoy dinner with friends over a hot pot full of bulgogi broth. But it is not that simple. With every meal you order, be prepared for a pile of side dishes, especially vegetables of differing degrees of spiciness. As the Koreans themselves say – ‘whatever grows, moves and can be eaten, we eat’.

Our friend Soonhee encountered this Asian insatiability in humorous circumstances. As her name suggests, she is Korean herself. Soonhee has visited many parts of the world in her life, experienced a diversity of cultures and she wanted to bring some innovation to her homeland. She became a member of a local association in Jinju, where she presented her proposal to improve composting practices in agricultural areas. Her idea was the proven method of worm-farming to process compost. The chair of the committee welcomed this idea with enthusiasm, but a slight doubt showed. The only thing she wondered about the worms was: “Can you eat them?”