Weil mein Kind Schulferien hat, habe ich mir diese Woche ebenfalls Urlaub genommen. Da ich etwas mehr Zeit als sonst habe, probiere ich neue Gerichte aus und koche Dinge, die mein Kind besonders gerne mag.

Heute Mittag gab es One-Pot-Jjajang-Spaghetti. Das Gericht soll in Korea gerade ziemlich beliebt sein, aber bei mir war es leider ein Reinfall. Ehrlich gesagt hat es überhaupt nicht geschmeckt. Wir haben reichlich Gochugaru (koreanische Chiliflocken) darübergestreut und die Spaghetti mit Danmuji (eingelegtem gelbem Rettich) gegessen – fast so, als würden wir Ssam daraus machen. Ich hätte wohl lieber mein eigenes Jjajang-Soßen-Rezept verwenden sollen ...

Zum Abendessen habe ich eine Suppe aus Hokkaido-Kürbis gekocht. Ursprünglich wollte ich koreanischen Kürbisbrei machen, habe mich dann aber doch für eine Suppe entschieden. Diesmal ist das Essen gelungen.

Dazu gab es selbst gebackenes koreanisches Kastenweißbrot, das ich in Butter geröstet habe. Mein Kind hat tatsächlich acht Scheiben gegessen! Ich hatte das Brot, das ich gestern gebacken hatte, in dicke Scheiben geschnitten und in Butter geröstet. Acht Scheiben waren noch nicht genug, also habe ich noch mehr gemacht. Das war wirklich ein gelungenes Abendessen.

Während wir die Suppe aßen, fing mein Kind plötzlich an, über den Film Ratatouille zu sprechen. Ich fragte mich, wie es ausgerechnet jetzt darauf gekommen war.

Schließlich schauten wir uns die Speisekarte eines Restaurants in Paris an, über das wir im Zusammenhang mit dem Film gesprochen hatten. Wir unterhielten uns eine ganze Weile darüber, ob wir bei unserem letzten Parisbesuch vielleicht sogar daran vorbeigelaufen waren, ohne es zu bemerken.

Vielleicht musste mein Kind an die Szene in Ratatouille denken, in der ein vertrauter Geschmack Erinnerungen an das Essen der Mutter weckt. So genau weiß ich es nicht. Aber es war ein schönes, unerwartetes Tischgespräch.

Since my child is on school holiday, I took this week off work too. With a little more time than usual, I've been trying out new dishes and making some of my child's favorites.

For lunch today, I made one-pan jjajang spaghetti. Apparently, it's been quite popular in Korea lately, but mine was a failure. It honestly didn't taste good. We sprinkled plenty of gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) over it and ate it with danmuji (pickled yellow radish), almost as though we were eating ssam. I should have stuck with my own jjajang sauce recipe...

For dinner, I made Hokkaido pumpkin soup. I'd originally considered making Korean pumpkin porridge, but decided on soup instead. This time, it turned out well.

We also had homemade Korean-style sandwich bread toasted in butter. My child ate eight slices! I'd cut the loaf I baked yesterday into thick slices and toasted them in butter. Eight slices weren't enough, so I ended up making more. I'd call that a successful dinner.

But something unexpected happened while we were eating the soup. My child suddenly started talking about the movie Ratatouille. I wondered what had brought it to mind.

We ended up looking at the menu of a restaurant in Paris that we'd been discussing in connection with the film. We talked for quite a while, wondering whether we might have passed it during our recent trip to Paris without even noticing.

Perhaps my child was thinking of that scene in Ratatouille where a familiar taste brings back memories of a mother's cooking. I don't really know, but it was a lovely little conversation to have over dinner.

아이가 방학이라 이번 주에는 나도 휴가를 냈다. 평소보다 시간이 생겨 아이가 좋아하는 음식이나 새로운 요리를 하나씩 만들어 보고 있다.

오늘 점심에는 원팬 짜장 스파게티를 만들었다. 요즘 한국에서 인기 있다는 요리였는데, 결과는 실패. 솔직히 맛이 없었다. 우린 고춧가루를 잔뜩 뿌리고, 단무지와 함께 쌈 싸먹듯이 먹었다. 내 짜장소스레시피로 만들걸..

저녁에는 훗카이도 호박으로 수프를 끓였다. 처음에는 호박죽을 만들까 하다가 수프로 결정했다. 이번에는 괜찮았다.

버터에 구운 식빵도 함께 먹었다. 아이는 식빵을 무려 8장이나 먹었다. 성공적인 저녁 식사였다.
내가 어제 구워놓은 한국식 식빵은 크게 썰어 버터에 구웠고, 그걸로도 부족해서 식빵을 더 구웠다.

그런데 수프를 먹다가 아이가 갑자기 영화 라따뚜이 이야기를 꺼냈다. 수프를 먹으면서 무슨 영감을 받았을까? 얼마전 다녀온 파리에서 우리가 지나친(사실 지나쳤는지도 몰랐던) 그 라따뚜이가 탄생한 레스토랑의 메뉴를 찾아가며, 한참 이야기를 했다. 아마도 라따뚜이에서 엄마의 맛을 떠올리는 그 장면이 생각났을지도 모르겠다.

At Our Table

A Failed Lunch, Pumpkin Soup, and Ratatouille