When it comes to preparing the temple food that has earned her praise from world-renowned chefs, Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan plays a long game.
Her vegan dishes are composed of vegetables she grows in gardens at the Chunjinam Hermitage at the temple Baegyangsa in Baekyangsa, South Korea, where she has lived and cooked for her fellow nuns and monks for a half-century. Kwan employs slow techniques like sun drying and fermentation to enhance her ingredients' flavors. She brews soy sauce, a foundational seasoning in her cuisine, in a process that can take decades.
Kwan, who was the subject of a 2017 episode of the Netflix documentary series "Chef's Table," recently came to Yale to share her culinary craft and philosophy with the local community and the staff of Yale Hospitality. Her visit was part of Global Table, a cross-campus collaboration between the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale, Yale Hospitality, and the Yale Schwarzman Center that explores how cuisine can be used to connect people across borders, promote cultural awareness, appreciate diverse perspectives, and create a shared sense of responsibility for the planet.
Kwan's residency culminated with a dinner at Yale Commons in which more 350 members of the campus and local community gathered to enjoy dishes she'd prepared with Yale Hospitality staff - and to listen to the celebrated chef discuss her experiences and approach to cuisine. For that conversation Kwan was joined by Hwansoo Kim, an associate professor of Korean Buddhism and culture in the Department of Religious Studies in Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
