Taste of Argentina in Seoul

Park Hyatt Seoul recently held the Argentina-inspired gastronomy event “Comilona” as part of the global hotel brand’s Masters of Food & Wine program.

Comilona, a Spanish word meaning “a feast” in English, is a nomad food festival held by Argentine chefs. It was founded in 2014 by three chefs -- Diego Jacquet, Soledad Nardelli and Martin Baquero -- hoping to introduce the culinary arts of their home country.
 

The festival travels around the world and is hosted at new locations each year, including Paris, New York and London.

It took place at Park Hyatt Seoul on Wednesday and Thursday, after the hotel’s executive chef Federico Heinzmann, who hails from Argentina, joined the previous Singapore leg of the festival last year.

Prior to the event, the hotel held a media event Tuesday, attended by the Argentine ambassador to Korea.

“Having been appointed as Argentine ambassador to Korea four months ago, I was able to understand the potential of the tie between the two countries,” Argentine Ambassador to Korea Alfredo Carlos Bascou said.

“Argentine is a country that is highly friendly toward organic agriculture. We will work closely with the authorities to import more fresh food from Argentina in Korea.”

Eight Argentine chefs, including Heinzmann, Jacquet and Baquero, helmed the kitchen Wednesday and Thursday, presenting Argentine dishes using local produce at the hotel’s Italian restaurant Cornerstone. They were joined by Argentine sommeliers Valeria Mortara and Martin Bruno.

The six-course menu included home-style Argentine food, such as chipa bread, empanadas, grilled beef with chimichurri and criolla sauce and dulce de leche. 

“I decided to work in Korea after visiting here to introduce Argentine food in 2010. After almost 10 years, I am proud to introduce Argentine cuisine with a deeper understanding of the Korean food culture. It was a pleasure to present Korean produce to the participating chefs,” chef Heinzmann said.


By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)