Hmmm... here's something I found...
Thursday, February 23, 2006
The story of Kimchi
Ever since human beings began cultivation, they have enjoyed vegetables that are rich in vitamins and minerals. However, during the cold winter season, cultivation was practically impossible, which naturally led to the development of a storage method: pickling. As a kind of pickled (salted) vegetable, kimchi was born in Korea around the 7th century.Use of Hot Red Pepper PowderAt the earliest stage, kimchi was just salted vegetables, but during the 12th century people saw the appearance of a new type of kimchi that included some spices and seasonings. In the 18th century, hot red pepper finally became one of the major spices used for making kimchi. Thanks to the introduction of Baechu(English name: Chinese cabbages) in the 19th century, people of that time witnessed the same type of kimchi we know today.The origin of the name KimchiIt is suspected that the name kimchi originated from shimchae (salting of vegetable) before going through some phonetic changes (shimchae to dimchae to kimchae to kimchi).Reasons why Kimchi Was Developed in KoreaFew fermented vegetable foods are found worldwide. Some possible reasons why kimchi was developed as a fermented food in Korea are as follows: (1) vegetables were popular to the ancient people of Korea whose main industry was agriculture; (2) Koreans had remarkable technology for slating fish that was frequently used as a seasoning; (3) Baechu(English name: Chinese cabbages) appropriate for making kimchi were widely grown.
to know more, visit
http://www.kimchi.or.kr/eng/main.jsp
