Danielle Paik

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Danielle Paik: My Halmonee (Grandma)

My halmonee (grandma) has lived in Canada for almost over 40 years. Till this day, when I walk into her home, it feels like I’m in Korea, with her Korean style tapestry and artwork on the walls. Especially, the scent of her Korean food cooking in the kitchen. One of my fondest memories growing up was watching and tasting her fresh kimchi as she would make it in the backyard. To be honest, I’ve never been a big fan of kimchi, but being Korean, I feel the need to know how to make it one day so I can keep passing down to my kids.

Reflecting, I remember as a kid having friends over to my place having to try and explain the contents of my fridge to people: the tiny dried up fish in jars, marinated octopus, and the potent smell of doenjang. Or feeling embarrassed to be bringing kimbap to school for lunch and eating it as fast as I could so none of the kids noticed it was something different. It seems funny now because Korean food has become somewhat trendy, and living away from home, it’s what I often crave. As I’ve grown older, my appreciation of how amazing our food is has grown deeper and I feel proud to be Canadian where we encourage culture and diversity.