Review by Matthew Nielsen
Cook Korean is a graphic novel cook book by Robin Ha, an artist who mixes Korean and American cultural influences. Speaking as someone who hasn’t read a cook book before (I suppose I’m not too keen on how most mainstream cook books look inside), I can say that I found Cook Korean to be both visually appealing and easy to follow. Robin Ha not only provides recipes, but also autobiographical short stories and facts about Korean people, food, and culture.
The recipes themselves are drawn and written out in a step-by-step way that are essentially comics without boxes. The artwork makes the ingredients look extra tasty, and all along the way we are guided by Robin Ha’s alter ego Dengki. I personally learn a lot better from comics than from standalone text or even from videos, so for me this was the perfect method for learning. However, even if you’re not all that interested in the recipes, the autobiographical stories and Korean culture segments are fascinating in their own right, and you might consider checking out this book for those elements alone.
I hope I can find more graphic novel cook books, and I look forward to exploring more of Robin Ha’s work. On top of that, I now have a collection of new meals to try out!
