My parallel reality is in the Royal Korean Court early in the 16th century. I am deeply invested and involved the kitchen/food-related intrigue surrounding King Jungjong. I heard a reference to Dae Jang Geum on The Splendid Table on National Public Radio. For the past two weeks I have been watching the famous Korean epic telenovela from 2003, Dae Jang Geum. Jang Geum is a literate low-born girl who grows up and becomes a kitchen lady to avenge the death of her mother who had also been a court lady. Jang Geum studies herbal healing and is acutely aware of the role food plays in health. Every episode is centered around food -- the preparation, the serving, the eating of it. The sets, the costumes and the contemporary foods were cinematographically reproduced beautifully. In episode 11 Jang Geum loses her groove and sense of taste and is not able to perform her duties in the kitchen.
This is my first post since November 18 and I recognize that I, too, lost my groove and sense of taste for a while, but now I'm back and able to perform my kitchen duties, as it were.
