One item on my “Must Do” list while in Korea was to make a trip down to Damyang (담양) to visit Moksan Gongyakwan (목산공예관).
FYI – The doggie is a Korean breed called 삽살개 (sapsalgae) – very cute isn’t he?
Mr. Kim Gyuseok who is a renowned Rice Cake Mold(떡살 Tteoksal) Artisan has been collecting and restoring 1000 traditional Tteoksal designs for over 30 years and in 2013, he was awarded the title of Korean Living National Treasure in the area of wood sculpture.
I got interested in these beautiful rice cake molds while I was trying to design my logo for my Studio Mari/Kimchimari blog. Among many traditional Korean rice cake mold designs, the triple pomegranate design really caught my eye.
The 3 pomegranate designs are one of the three special fruit (pomegranate, peach, buddha’s hand) designs used for weddings. They symbolize good fortune, prosperity and fertility. I have been wanting to visit Mr. Kim and his workshop in person to see his creations and also possibly buy a mold with my logo in it. After almost a year, as I was getting to leave Korea, I was finally able to make the trip with my husband.
It turns out Mr. Kim has not only collected and restored the traditional rice cake mold designs but had co-authored a Korean cookbook after doing years of research about rice cake molds and the meaning of them. The book is called Sensible Korean Food and the recipes are based on yin=cold and yang=hot energies of food. It was because during his search, he uncovered many traditional recipes handed down for generations that otherwise would have gotten lost through the ages.
During our conversation, he also talked about how unfortunate it was that today’s Korean food has forgotten these basic concepts shaped by Korean ancestors for thousands of years. He was disappointed that the latest trend in Korean food was based food combinations mostly coming from a traditional medical book called Dongyi Bogaam(동의보감). And until he pointed this out, I never gave it much thought…But he was right in that the medical book is a book to help sick patients, NOT healthy people. He said, sick people’s yin and yang balance is drastically out of balance and therefore more extreme foods are advised to bring the balance back to normal. However, for healthy people, such extreme foods are not necessary nor advised. What most healthy people should know is how to eat a well balanced meal of both cold (yin) and hot (yang) foods and not leaning too much to any one side. Mr Kim old me that it was the same thing as saying medication should only be given to sick people and not to someone who is healthy.
Mr. Kim also shared his worries regarding rice cake mold designs – each mold design all have specific meanings and were meant to be used for different occasions but now almost all of that has been lost. Out of the 1000 mold designs, I would say there are probably less than 10 designs that are commonly used today. Through Mr. Kim’s words, I was getting a glimpse of the real old traditional ways of Korea – how in the old days, there was time to put meaning into everything and appreciate the beauty of them, even in something as simple and small as the design of a rice cake.
As for my pomegranate design, Mr. Kim had an idea to make me a custom mold using all the 3 symbols. I wasn’t sure if there would be enough time for me to get it before I left Korea but he told me he would work through the Korean Lunar New Year holiday to make it happen. And so here it is! I was able to get it 2 days before I left Korea. Below is a photo of my very own Tteoksal!!!
Each side features a fruit pattern using one ore more of the 3 fruits (peach, pomegranate, buddha’s hand) for weddings.
I can’t wait to make my own jjeolpyun (절편) with these stamps! Here is a sample picture of some of the more common tteoksal mold stamped on jjeolpyun.
My visit has truly inspired me to research more into the traditions and the yin and yang theory of foods – so stay tuned for that!
