Food, Cultural Warfare, and Jewel in the Palace

I was very intrigued (and hungry) after watching the highlights reel of Jewel in the Palace. I was surprised how much of the story seemed to have been glossed over and / or skipped while the food scenes seemed to have been shown in their full glory. Clearly, the people who put together this highlight DVD thought that the food scenes were more important than the other scenes.

The show reminded me of several shows in Japan that fit the same “genre.” For example, the anime, Yakitate, follows the story of a boy who wishes to make the “perfect Japanese bread.” The show is very silly, but follows the same formula of kitchen intrigue, rivalries, and cooking secrets involving the importance of mixing health and taste, using unusual ingredients, and putting “your heart into it.” This, however, differs from Jewel in the Palace, as Jewel concerns a historic figure and is set in a historic setting, while Yakitate is set in modern times and is clearly fictional.

But while shows like Jewel and Yakitate are part of a larger genre seen in East Asian television dramas, I can’t think of any western counterparts. For certain, there are American cooking shows, but I can’t think of any shows that are both cooking shows AND drama shows.

This dramatic aspect allows for some interesting scenes. First, there is clearly an emotional level attached to the food making process. Jang Geum uses vinegar left behind by her dead mother, and prepares mountain berries for the cooking competition, which mirrors the mountain berries she fed her mother on her deathbed. Second, there is a nationalistic pride being attached. Jang Geum is not just a cook, but a historic Korean figure. She’s not just cooking food; she’s preparing Korean food. This is a key point in several cooking scenes, such as when the competition called for rice preparation, with the descriptor of rice being central to the Korean diet and cooking aesthetic. Furthermore, one can see the cultural warfare that is taking place. When Jang Geum is cooking for the Ming Dynasty envoy, she refuses to serve him Chinese food, stating that it is unhealthy for him. She prepares healthy (Korean) food for him, and after five days, the envoy refuses to eat Chinese food, but instead declares that he has gotten used to the Korean food, and prefers its healthy quality to his homeland foods.

One must wonder what a Japanese audience thinks when they hear how Korean rice is, or what a Chinese audience thinks when they hear how unhealthy their food is.