Seoul, Korea

Spigaroli in Italy and taking charcuterie lessons at ‘Kitchen at Camont’ in France. His craft at Cheese flo is a reflection of the skills learned and his own developments in the art of preservation and fermentation.

Chef Cho says he “could not imagine, and did not plan” to delve into cheesemaking or charcuterie – his main interest was to have a successful restaurant and be a good chef. “In 2008, (Kitchen flo) was affected by the economic crisis and there were new dining trends such as brunch, gastropub and Korean-style fine dining. Such kinds of trend changes will continue endlessly. That's why I was thinking of not changing, slow changing and sustainability.” Trends may be fleeting but the global love for cheese is eternal, he thinks. He tells me that he is challenging himself to reach the highest quality of products through dedication to the craft.

At the moment, Cho maintains smaller batches with the observation that it would require investment and creating the appropriate channels to achieve large scale production. “The dairy industry in Korea is also facing structural issues; the cost of milk production is too high making it difficult to compete with imported products. It won’t be easy in the short term due to vested business interests.” Every step forward is a big challenge and I might fail, he admits, buts says that he believes he is “going the right way and it is a matter of time and devotion”.

The only way to the top is possibly by developing unique ‘Korean’ cheese varieties, for this intrepid artisan. His current line certainly reflects his French and European influence, with elegant combinations like the truffle brie stuffed with mascarpone and truffle pesto, and the ‘Italeggio Taleggio’ which is described as being made ‘in the style of Cheese flo’. Cho says that use of local microbes like the ones present in Doenjang (fermented soybean paste) could be possible to capture the essence of

Korean-made cheese. He is also experimenting with washing his rind cheeses in traditional Korean liquor in the same way that the French brandy Marc de Bourgogne is used to affect the flavour and smell of Époisses , a pungent softpaste cheese. There might be many possibilities for pairing with Korean ingredients he admits, adding “it makes me happy to find new combinations”.

Fermentation and maturing developed in such a way that the same scientific principles have been adopted by each country and culture to create vast differences in the way the East and West preserve food. According to Chef Cho, “the invisible world rules the visible world; microbes are invisible but they start to act in certain conditions and they are connected with the macro world through culture, history, politics, economics, climate, geography and so on”.

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744-2 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

IG: @cheeseflo www.cheeseflo.com