One of the loveliest things about this project is having the opportunity to learn more about my friends, sharing food, and hearing stories that might not otherwise get told. I met Jiho almost two years ago now at the first Cross St Market in Auckland – the most beautiful birthplace of so many new friendships. I had been a big fan of Walk in the Park before this market, and having only just started Petley I was very nervous to meet them. Luckily, Jiho and Sam are the some of the greatest people, there was nothing at all to be nervous about, and we have been friends since that first market.

Jiho is a wonder, a modest and quiet achiever who if you don’t probe, you might not ever find out all the amazing things she has achieved. I was blown away when she nonchalantly told me she worked with Eleanor Ozich in creating the menu for the Monday’s, as well as managing the kitchen there for two years. Or that she studied and worked in film for six years while still in Korea.

But well before Jiho was making revolutionary menus at new cafés in Auckland, she was a fussy kid in Seoul. Her palate was limited to rice, canned fish, seaweed, eggs, and sweet corn, all of which she ate very small amounts of. It wasn’t even until she was 7 that she came around to lollies and soft drinks. Jiho remembers her mum chasing her around the house almost begging her to just eat a spoonful of rice before she got on the bus to school. While at school the embarrassment of not liking certain foods won over not eating. At school in Korea the kids are assigned a classroom for the entire year, and it’s the teachers that come to them for each subject. This does not change for lunchtime. The massive kitchens at the schools would deliver enough hot food to each classroom and the kids would sit around and eat before going out to play. She remembers so fondly the sound of the kids all over the school moving their desks out of there straight rows to be closer to one another so they could eat and talk together. Jiho managed to hide her distaste for the sour side dishes like kimchi from her friends by eating small mouthfuls at a time, and following it with huge spoonful’s of rice to mask the flavour.

Jiho’s palate blossomed as each of her small bites began to pay off, and she really began to enjoy food. It was her Mum who first taught her how to cook, she volunteered for an organisation that made meals for elderly people who were unable to feed themselves, as well as cooking for orphanages and shelters. She has volunteered ever since Jiho was young, and still volunteers today. Jiho first began helping by watching her Mother and setting the tables, she had to do the groundwork before she was allowed to pick up a knife. Once she made it into the kitchen she discovered huge joy in what it takes to prepare a meal, make a meal, and especially seeing someone enjoy it. This feeling stuck and gave her the drive to peruse cooking more.

At 15 Jiho took part in a month long school exchange to Australia, the trip blew her culinary mind. Her host parents cooked food she did not even know existed. For the first time she was eating roast chicken and gravy, and homemade burgers for dinner – in Korea burgers are a snack, you don’t eat them for dinner, and you definitely don’t make them at home. I loved the enthusiasm she still had for the food as she told us about this exchange. Jiho knew after this trip that when she was old enough she was going to move to Australia.

Australia was first on the cards, but Sam wasn’t so sure. They thought about Europe, but it was her Mum who had recently been to New Zealand who convinced them that it was too beautiful a country not to go to. So Jiho and Sam got married and moved to New Zealand.

Both Jiho and Sam are great cooks, but they wanted to learn more of the basics of cooking while in New Zealand. After 3 months in English school they spent a year in culinary school, and both managed to get jobs in kitchens right after graduating. These jobs were good, but their naturally serene natures did not quite align with the somewhat highly intense environments of the kitchens they were in. Both, again, being so creative and driven looked for something more suited to who they were and what they believed in. In amongst a few more kitchens, cafés and retail jobs, they started Walk in the Park, where Sam could stretch his furniture making muscles, and Jiho could get back into photography.

Now, after 6 years in New Zealand, they are both exactly where they should be. Sam is turning full time for their brand Walk in the Park, and Jiho is working full time as a freelance photographer, and they are both getting back into cooking and eating more Korean food. Jiho has also just launched Jiho’s Kitchen @jihoskitchen where she will work through and explain the simple beauty of Korean pantry basics. I cannot wait to learn more.