The Snozberries Taste Like Snozberries

The title of this blog post is, of course, a reference to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Gene Wilder, playing Willy Wonka, introduces his guests to lickable wallpaper. If you don't know the movie, no worries. You can follow this post without it.

But what you do need to know is that Alrica really likes colby jack cheese. Back in the States, we would regularly buy colby jack cheese. It's delicious and it is one of her favorites. But in most of our travels, we don't ever see colby jack cheese. In many places, you hardly see cheese at all. So imagine Alrica's delight when, early this week while visiting the grocery store, she found colby jack cheese. If you are imagining a lot of delight, good job.

Now, ratchet that up a notch, you have one more scene to imagine. You see, we bought the cheese and brought it home. Now you are imagining Alrica's delight when she tasted it. And she said to me, "The colby jack cheese tastes like colby jack cheese." To which I replied, as you have probably guessed, "The snozberries taste like snozberries."

It's wonderful to find some familiar foods in other countries. But it is fascinating to see the differences. Have you ever seen canned whelk at home?

This is not just whelk. This is premium whelk.

This is even more interesting than you think. The Korean word golbaengi is used for any edible sea snails. The prime golbaengi eaten is whelk. But this is imported whelk. They don't catch a lot of them here. Almost all the whelk eaten in South Korea is imported from the UK. But in the UK, where these are caught by the thousands, nobody eats them. They think they are bait for catching other fish and are otherwise unpalatable.

How did this all begin? It started with locally caught whelk. It wasn't a hugely popular food yet in Korea, only eaten in some of the fishing towns where it was caught. But during a period of industrialization in the 1960s, the Eulji-ro district of Seoul (which is just a bit west of where we live) became home to lots of factories. Restaurants in the area started serving a salad that included golbaengi. In Korea, the texture of a food is considered as important as the flavor. These industrial workers loved the chewy resistance to their teeth. The whelk was mixed with vegetables, strong sauces and noodles, so it was flavorful and filling as well.

This new golbaengi dish became super popular. It spread outside of just the Eulji-ro district. But Korean fisherman couldn't catch enough to keep up with demand. The whelk in Korea live in deep waters, they aren't easy or inexpensive to catch. But the whelk around the British Isles, they live in shallow waters and were being caught by accident. They were just an extra thing in the nets of fisherman when they hauled up their fish.

And boom! (An import boom.) Korean importers started buying whelk from British fishermen. This was fantastic for the Brits. Before these, a small amount of the whelk was used for bait, but mostly it was a waste product. Now there are Korean importers who want to pay for it? Who would say no to that?

We could end the whelk story here. Then it would seem like a happy win-win tale. If you want a happy whelk ending, skip the next paragraph.

For those you reading this paragraph, you probably have a good guess what happens next. Korean demand skyrockets. British fishermen in the Irish Sea start catching whelk, not worrying about fish. The demand is so high, the Brits catch all kinds of whelk, even the juveniles. They catch all year long, even in mating seasons. And what's the inevitable outcome of that? The whelk population crashes. For decades the British government does nothing about it. Finally in 2024, the UK passes regulations on the whelk fishing industry in the hopes that they can save the whelk from total extinction. They put in place size limits (on the individual whelk meaning you can't catch them too small, the juvenile ones), monthly weight limits, areas that are forbidden to be fished because they are breeding grounds, and a total ban on whelk fishing between April and June as that is the mating season. (Does it seem like a long mating season? Well, they are sea snails, they don't move fast.) Hopefully these new rules will help and there will be future whelk.

Another food that has amazing popularity is seaweed. In the USA, you hardly see seaweed used aside from as part of sushi. You can find it, sure, but it isn't common. But in Korea, dried roasted seaweed is huge. It's a snack. And there are so many varieties of it!

Look, the girl is making a heart with her fingers. She really loves seaweed snacks!

Perhaps you prefer your seaweed snacks to have that oakwood flavor

Maybe you like your seaweed roasted in sesame oil

Or perhaps you prefer perilla oil which comes from the Japanese Mint plant

You need one kind of seaweed for your gimbap

But a different kind for your onigiri. By the way, can the Minions market anything?

And garnish, because sometimes that touch of seaweed is all the difference in presentation

Don't ask, "Why would anyone need so many kinds of seaweed?" If you do, Willy Wonka might grab your face and say, "We are the music makers. And we are the eaters of seaweed. No, no, dreamers of dreams. Went off script for a second there. Sorry."