Gourmet () is a 2008 South Korean television series starring Kim Rae-won and Nam Sang-mi. It aired on SBS TV from June 16 to September 9, 2008 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 24 episodes.
It was adapted from Sikgaek, a popular manhwa by Huh Young-man, which was first serialized in newspapers in 2002. The TV series explores the theme of cooking through the rivalry between two hansik (Korean cuisine) chefs, as one of them travels around the nation looking for the best ingredients and recipes.
Plot Kim Rae-Won stars as the warm hearted chef-in-training Lee Sung-Chan, while actress Nam Sang-Mi plays a silly country girl, Kim Jin-soo, who trails Lee with high hopes of becoming a food columnist. Veteran actor Choi Bul-Am appears as Master Oh Sook-soo, Lee's stepfather and the only person who truly believes in Lee's potential.
Sung-Chan is a happy and bright young man who loves to cook. Leaving the heavy responsibility of becoming the head chef of Oh's famous restaurant to his stepbrother, he explores the world of cooking and discovers that he's actually good at it. When Oh announces that he will not choose his own son to become the owner and head chef, cold-hearted jealousy and competition arise.
Cast
Main characters Kim Rae-won as Lee Sung-chan Noh Young-hak as teenage Sung-chan Kang Yi-seok as young Sung-chan Kwon Oh-joong as Oh Bong-joo Ahn Yong-joon as teenage Bong-joo Nam Sang-mi as Kim Jin-soo Kim So-yeon as Yoon Joo-hee Won Ki-joon as Gong Min-woo Choi Bool-am as Oh Seung-geun
Supporting characters Kang Nam-gil as Director Han (Jin-soo's boss) Jung Jin as Ja-woon Shim Yang-hong as Director Yoon (Joo-hee's father) Kim Ae-kyung as Madam Jo Lee Won-yong as Jong-goo Lee Won-jong as Dal-pyung Hoon Ki as Ki-jung Kim Sun-hyuk as Sang-ki Lee Kyung-jin as Jin-soo's mother Choi Jae-hwan as Seok-dong Do Yoon-joo as General manager Kim Hye-jung as Manager Kang Yang Taek-jo as President Seo Kim Sung-kyum as President Jang Lee Ki-young as Matsumoto Junichi Jung Young-sook as Soon-boon (Seung-geun's friend) Jo Sang-goo as legendary butcher Kang Pyun-soo Choi Song-hyun as cooking contest MC Jang Moon-seok as towing truck driver Choi Jae-kwon as Sung Sik-gaek (Sung-chan's friend) Yeo Jin-goo as Ho-tae Kim Da-in
Episode ratings Date Episode Nationwide Seoul 2008-06-16 Special 6.5% 7.5% 2008-06-17 1 13.2% (5th) 13.9% (5th) 2008-06-17 2 16.1% (3rd) 17.5% (3rd) 2008-06-23 3 16.4% (4th) 17.7% (2nd) 2008-06-24 4 16.0% (3rd) 17.3% (2nd) 2008-06-30 5 16.4% (3rd) 17.0% (3rd) 2008-07-01 6 18.3% (2nd) 19.4% (2nd) 2008-07-07 7 18.1% (3rd) 19.3% (2nd) 2008-07-08 8 20.2% (2nd) 20.7% (2nd) 2008-07-14 9 18.9% (3rd) 20.1% (2nd) 2008-07-15 10 20.7% (2nd) 21.8% (2nd) 2008-07-21 11 22.0% (2nd) 23.5% (1st) 2008-07-22 12 22.4% (2nd) 23.3% (2nd) 2008-07-28 13 21.7% (2nd) 21.6% (2nd) 2008-07-29 14 23.5% (2nd) 24.4% (1st) 2008-08-04 15 20.7% (2nd) 21.1% (2nd) 2008-08-05 16 23.4% (2nd) 23.8% (2nd) 2008-08-11 17 23.5% (2nd) 24.0% (1st) 2008-08-18 18 22.1% (2nd) 23.0% (2nd) 2008-08-25 19 23.3% (2nd) 23.9% (2nd) 2008-08-26 20 22.9% (2nd) 23.0% (2nd) 2008-09-01 21 20.6% (3rd) 21.5% (2nd) 2008-09-02 22 19.1% (2nd) 20.5% (2nd) 2008-09-08 23 20.5% (3rd) 21.2% (3rd) 2008-09-09 24 26.7% (2nd) 27.9% (1st) Average 20.3% 21.1% Source: TNS Media Korea
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient Result2008 Best Drama Gourmet Excellence Award, Actor Kim Rae-won Top Excellence Award, Actor Kim Rae-won Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Planning Drama Kim Rae-won Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Planning Drama Nam Sang-mi Best Supporting Actor in a Special Planning Drama Won Ki-joon Best Supporting Actress in a Special Planning Drama Kim So-yeon Kim Ae-kyung Best Young Actor Yeo Jin-goo Top 10 Stars Kim Rae-won 2009 Best Director (TV) Choi Jong-soo
DVD release The television series was released on DVD in November 2008 by YA Entertainment in two-volume boxed sets. Each volume included four discs, with Korean audio and English-language subtitles."YA Entertainment To Release Korean TV Drama Gourmet on DVD" . ClickPress. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
International broadcast It aired in the Philippines on the GMA Network beginning July 18, 2011.
It aired in Thailand on Channel 3 every Monday to Friday at 1.40 p.m. starting from August 14, 2012.
See also Le Grand Chef - 2007 film based on the same manhwa.
References
External links Gourmet official SBS website