This is for Koreans everywhere
We are thrilled and grateful to be recognised by The Guild of Fine Food with the Great Taste Awards, the most recognised award for food in the UK.
Recognition of the quality of the dedication from artisans who preserve Korea's heritage and share our culture, their stories spanning generations, surviving the modern tragedies that have split what was once one people.
Awarded purely on taste by the curated expert judges of the Great Taste Award, through rigorous blind tasting spanning 105 days, over 15,000 products.
The official award to verify the enjoyment so far from Michelin starred and fine dining chefs, to sommeliers, to numerous people at festivals, to my friends.
A sign of broader recognition and awareness of the quality of artisanal products from Korea, beyond those made commercially.
Of the craftsmanship and masters in Korea.
And that this taste, these flavours, are indiscriminate, international, that they translate to taste buds which did not grow up with Korean cuisine. That quality speaks.
... Surprised 5 years aged jinjang didnt win 3 stars
Obviously there is a bit of subjectivity ...
Gochujang by Sunchang Moon Okrye
The first, and only gochujang product so far to have 3 stars from Great Taste
And its meaningful that it goes to a family in Korea preserving and carrying forward 7 generations of story.
That their story and dedication are recognised.
They too are thrilled and honoured.
Daemandugwa by Manndang winning 2 stars
Methods passed down directly by the last head of the Joseon royal palace kitchens
Daemandugwa, a treat rare even in Korea, is a surviving memory of hangwa, Korean confectionery, from the Joseon palaces.
Kept alive by artisan Hwang Ji-hyun, whose techniques descend directly from Han Hui-sun, the last head of the Joseon Palace kitchens.
His hands are one of very few in Korea that still know how to create these almost lost delights, to have learned from a continued lineage from Han Hui-sun.
He learned from his father, Hwang Moon-chul, whose master was Han Hui-sun's apprentice.
An art difficult to master. Even students who have been learning for several years from Hwang Moon-chul cannot replicate that taste.
The awards are dedicated to the artisans.
Jungdam is just the messenger, the storyteller.
It is their dedication.
It is to them that I am grateful, for preserving what would otherwise be lost to the annals of history.
Thank you.
And thank you to everyone who enjoyed the products we share.
Without you, Jungdam could not be.
It is great to have the stars as recognition of the quality.
But what's inside did not change from yesterday to today.
Their 본질 essence stays the same.
As does our 본심 true intentions.
This is just the start.
The start of the story of Jungdam, to share Korea's heritage and culture through the stories of artisans and the experience of their products continues.
We will strive to make it journey worth being part of
To warmly share a piece of Korea, and make it a part of your story.