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| Lauren at her favorite place in Berlin, 'Goldhahn & Sampson' in Prenzlauer Berg |
I first visited Berlin during a frosty February in 2006 and fell in love with the city. Considering that I came from Los Angeles and 25 degree weather, that was quite a feat. I decided quite spontaneously to move and 7 months later I landed in Tegel with 2 suitcases, a German-English dictionary and a lot of enthusiasm and naiveté.
What I
love about Berlin is that there are still possibilities here as it is a
city that is constantly in flux and reinventing itself and it allows me
to change and grow with it. The Berlin I experienced 5 years ago when I
first moved is quite a different place then the Berlin now and I
suspect will be a new place again 5 years from today.
Originally I came to Berlin to study opera with a teacher I had met in New York and a few years ago I was helping to run a fringe opera company - Berlin International Opera - while studying and working. Of course I've always loved cooking and entertaining but it wasn't until a medical reason forced me to quit singing for a while and I needed a new outlet for my creative energy.
Originally I came to Berlin to study opera with a teacher I had met in New York and a few years ago I was helping to run a fringe opera company - Berlin International Opera - while studying and working. Of course I've always loved cooking and entertaining but it wasn't until a medical reason forced me to quit singing for a while and I needed a new outlet for my creative energy.
One day I decided to
wear one of my dirndls (I have a not so secret obsession with dirndls)
and brought some kimchi to Mauerpark. I had a friend photograph
people's very fun reactions to eating kimchi for the first time
and... voilà, 'Fräulein Kimchi' was born. I got secretly obsessed with
introducing Korean food to all those (poor) people who have had no
experience with my native cuisine and whenever I travelled I always had a
small package of Korean ingredients with me. (It's the best way to get
hosted on Couchsurfing if you offer to make people a home-cooked
dinner!). I've cooked Korean food and made kimchi for people in
Finland, Denmark, Norway, France, Austria, England, Ireland, Italy and
of course all throughout Germany. In the meantime, back in Berlin I
started teaching cooking classes at one of my favorite foodie stores - 'Goldhahn & Sampson' - and catering small parties and dinners for
friends and acquaintances.
What always surprises me about Berlin is how much it
feels like a small town for being such a large city. I've been lucky
in getting to know people through various circles that have really
helped me along the way with developing my food passions. I got to
know Kavita Meelu through mutual contacts at 'Goldhahn & Sampson' and
cooked for one of her 'Mother's Mother' meals last summer, which then led
me to 'Kitchensurfing' which led me to 'Street Food Thursday' at the
Martkhalle 9, well, I guess I've been blessed with being in the
right place at the right time with some amazing people to support me.
Now I'm keeping busy with 'Street Food Thursdays', my kimchi making and
weekly catering at 'Soundcloud'. I am surprised at how well everything is
going, but I guess Berlin is finally ready for Korean-Fusion food
and... Korean Tacos, which has been my passion from the start. It's
pretty funny, when I first approached the guys at 'Goldhahn & Sampson'
to let me teach my Korean-Mexican class a few years ago, they were
fairly resistant to the idea. "Lauren," they said, "No one will know
what that is, what IS a Korean taco?" I'm happy to say, I ended up
finally convincing them and now I teach my Korean-Bavarian class there
as well.
In August I will be starting my own supperclub - 'Fräulein
Kimchi's Delish Tisch'- in Prenzlauer Berg where I will offer seasonal
menus with whimsical fusions between Korean, German and American food
and I'm slowly, slowly toying with the idea of a 'Fräulein Kimchi Café'...
For seat reservations to the 'Delish Tisch' in August, please contact frauleinkimchi@gmail.com. Be sure to follow the journey of bringing Korean food to Berlin via facebook or the website.
For seat reservations to the 'Delish Tisch' in August, please contact frauleinkimchi@gmail.com. Be sure to follow the journey of bringing Korean food to Berlin via facebook or the website.
