Test Kitchen: The Slow Digest

How do we preserve the taste of ‘home’ when the ground beneath our feet has shifted?

Join us for an energetic conversation with acclaimed South Korean theatre-maker, videographer, and composer Jaha Koo about using food as a cosmic tool to map cultural hybridity and diasporic experiences.

Using fermentation to mix tales of displacement, migration and colonial legacies, this talk explores the ways in which we carry our homes with us through the food we eat, the stories we share, and the rituals we preserve. Koo will also unpack the worldbuilding concepts behind Haribo Kimchi, his seminal culinary-performance about a traditional Korean street food stall (pojangmacha) that reveals how memories are cooked, served, and digested.

The conversation will be followed by an interactive kimchi demonstration with Gadigal-based Korean cook, fermenter, and coffee roaster Yujin Kim, exploring the science and history of kimchi-making and its fascinating similarities to coffee harvesting.