Korean fusion cooking in Napa County

This was the first interview I've ever done for YouTube. Usually, in my videos I talk, you listen and then you can respond in the comments section below the video. That's the way cooking videos usually work. The give and take communication is indirect.

We had scaled back our normal production as well. We didn't bring our heavy duty lighting system, which usually makes my father in law's kitchen look even whiter than it is in real life. Also we did not use the wireless lapel mic set up that we have used in every single one of our cooking videos up to this point. This was filmed by my husband with the video camera and me holding a wireless microphone. That's it.

I walked into this shoot knowing that I wanted certain still shots and my husband took some B-roll of other parts as well just in case. This video was totally unscripted, the general idea for the flow of the video was in my head. I just asked the questions and Chef Marroquin answered. There was no practice run of the question and answers either. We just did it in one take.

Usually our cooking videos are methodically planned. The dialogue and every video and photo shot is scripted. Not this time.



We actually filmed and had nearly completed editing this video before I made the Soju Cream Sauce video (notice the shorter hair) but we posted this video later because of my vow to KBS to get my pasta video with my review of the Noodle Road documentary out the door first. Both of these videos would have been posted sooner if hubby and I hadn't come down with the flu in October.

Tamar interviews Hector Marroquin of Napa Valley Chef Catering Co. Chef Marroquin added kimchi and kalbi (with a twist) to his 2009 menu at the St. Helena's Farmer's Market in St. Helena, Calif., the heart of Napa Valley. The nearby Culinary Institute of America has taken notice of his innovation and introduced pupusas to their menu as well. Can kimchi be the next CIA star?

The kalbi and kimchi with pupusas were a success, even though they wasn't Chef Marroquin's #1 seller. He plans to serve this dish during next year's St. Helena's Farmers Market as well, God willing.

As we mentioned in the video, Chef Marroquin went online to YouTube to find inspiration for his kimchi. If you want to see his original inspiration, check out this video.




If you like the t-shirt I'm wearing during the interview, this is also a baboshirts.com creation.  I wore one of their t-shirts in my Korean Potato Salad video, too.