WANT TO LEARN TO COOK KOREAN FOODS? TOO INTIMIDATED TO TRY & DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START? Start here!European-born, former Chef who loves to cook all manner of world cuisine here: this is an easy to use, clearly written, perfect Korean cookbook good for both a novice AND an old used-up chef!I have been following the Author's website for a while now, & finally decided that I needed her basic book. Glad I got it!I love Korean food, & have prepared many traditional recipes given to me by Korean families: they & I all agree that it's very authentic, with adaptations always provided for ingredients possibly hard to find in the US.I especially loved the lesser known fermented foods & even drinks. I am lucky enough that I have an H-Mart not far from me (a Korean grocery store chain in the US, at least on the Left Coast), so have both ingredients AND tools such as clay fermenting pots easily available at decent prices.I love fermented foods, as we eat them almost daily where I'm from, same as most Asian countries, & have been preparing a variety of kimchis (kimchi literally means submerged vegetables, i.e. salted & fermented) for years, & it was nice to find a few new versions in this book. I love ferments so much that I actually bought a Korean LG Kimchi / Ferment refrigerator, with different drawers for the various stages & types of ferments, dedicated to JUST all my ferments!Currently, I have Makgeolli - a fermented, slightly alcoholic rice drink - brewing in a clay pot. Can't wait to taste it in a few days! I have tried the commercial ones, and they are ok, but nothing beats a home-made one, with no weird & unnecessary ingredients, right?Mind you, this book is clearly written for an American readership: all measurements are given in Imperial system. If another edition is ever written, my suggestion would be to include Metric measurements, to make it easily usable by a wider audienceThe pictures are beautiful & informative, often showing not just the finished product, but the steps to get there, which will be very helpful to novice cooks.While there are some personal stories & commentaries on the recipes, historical context, & traditional uses, do not expect one of those maudling, cooking-blog-type long writings that seem to goo on and on and on and... She gests down to the recipes very quickly. If you want more writing before a recipe, follow her posts on her website!All in all, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to all who love Korean foods, & want something more authentic, easy to prepare than stuff you find at very Americanized restaurants.