Interview - Kimchi Pop
by Michela Arfiero
by Michela Arfiero
[Michela Arfiero] Your project stems from the encounter between Italy and Korea. Reflecting on your personal or creative origins, what aspects of each of you are present in this project today?
[Erin Eun-Young Kim] We like to say Kimchi Pop has a little bit of Korea, Italy, and the USA all in one. Korea, because I grew up eating Korean staples like kimchi, gochujang, and gim, essential elements of Korean culture that have now become more known around the world. Italy, because it’s our adopted home. We’re inspired every day by the culinary traditions here, and we love sharing them with our friends and community. And the USA, especially New York. After over a decade living in New York, it’s hard to shake off that energy, the drive, and the hustle that becomes part of you.
[Mark Blackwell]I agree. Sometimes I say that we’re living the American dream in Italy: immigrating and adapting, buying a home, starting a business. Certainly working for myself for many years in NYC helped give me the confidence to undertake that here. I think Kimchi Pop reflects our shared independent streak.
Perhaps something a little less visible is an interest in self-sufficiency, a lot of which came from time spent in the mountains; and – even though we like to move fast in the business – a desire to slow down somewhat in our lives; we traded the big city for the village life, and became increasingly interested in farming and slow food.
[MA] If someone didn't know what kimchi was but was curious about it, perhaps because of the properties of fermented foods, how would you describe it to them? And what makes Kimchi Pop different from "traditional" kimchi?
[EK] Kimchi is magical. In Korean culture, “kimchi” refers to any vegetable that’s been fermented. If it is a vegetable, it can be turned into kimchi. It’s a way of preserving, but also transforming food. You don’t even need a starter (like in kombucha, yogurt etc) for the vegetables to ferment into kimchi, it just does it. Kimchi Pop’s recipe stays true to Korean tradition, but what we love most is seeing how chefs from all kinds of backgrounds reinterpret it in their own ways and adopt it into their culture. In Lecce, for example, there’s a chef who puts kimchi on pizza (Fera Lecce). I’ve seen places in Ravenna that serve piadinas with kimchi now. In the U.S., we’ve also seen Mexican food trucks now serving up kimchi tacos and burritos with kimchi. We think that’s the beauty of it — kimchi travels, adapts, and keeps evolving.
[MB] For people who have never heard of kimchi I always explain it as “Korean sauerkraut with red peppers.” For people who understand fermented foods, I think it’s worth adding that our kimchi is alive - non-pasteurized, so we preserve the good bacteria. It continues to ferment and change as it ages. That aspect is super traditional. In fact, while we love seeing Kimchi Pop eaten in non-traditional (fusion) ways, in terms of taste and ingredients our kimchi is probably among the most traditional you can find in Europe.
[MA] If you had to choose one recipe to represent yourself, which one would it be?
[EK] If I had to choose one recipe to describe Kimchi Pop, it would probably be Kimchi Fuoco. It’s bold, full of character, and a little spicy — just like the journey that brought Kimchi Pop to life.
[MB] Yes, Fuoco is very much like the Classic, traditional, but more fiery. And it was the product of a slight mistake with the quantity of gochugaru. But we ended up loving the result. That mirrors our journey quite a bit. When we moved to Italy we never expected to be kimchi entrepreneurs: the things that didn’t go as planned helped us find our way. And we’re grateful for it.
[MA] Where in Italy have you established your base? Is there a particular reason you chose that place?
[EK] We live in a little village in Valsassina. It’s only an hour from Milan but is a world away. We get the best of both worlds, the urban delights of Milan, but also the quiet of the village. We first moved to Lecco because after graduate school I was only working in the city two days a week and we weren’t sure what the long-term held. Personally, I was searching for some peace and quiet and this village was perfect. I’m painting whenever I’m not working on the kimchi business, and sometimes go into Milan to see some friends and art.
[MB] Yes, we knew Lecco because I came up here often for hiking and climbing. We spent a summer in a little apartment by the lake and absolutely loved the lifestyle. We wanted to stay in the area and went to see a place in Ballabio. It was the only one we saw, it was perfect. It has a view down the valley and is right under the Grignetta which is very famous in the history of climbing. I’m also crazy about taleggio cheese so it’s a very good fit for me.
[MA] What’s your favorite Italian dish?
[EK] Parmigiana di melanzane hands down.
[MB] I could never choose one thing. Every region has amazing dishes and we love traveling around and trying them. One thing I love that you find frequently here but only rarely in the US these days is tripe. I love it in all forms: trippa alla romana, alla napoletana, I love the lampredotto stands in Firenze. We became friends with the local Gruppo degli Alpini here in our village after attending a tripe dinner (they make busecca). Erin was a little slower to enjoy it, but eventually she came around and even cooked it at home for me once. I sometimes joke that I knew then that she really loved me.
[MA] Do you have any cooking classes planned? What does the act of cooking represent for you?
[EK] Yes, we had a kimchi making class in Brescia back in May, as well as at Mercato Centrale in Torino beginning of November (Nov 9) during their Korean Food & Culture Festival. We’ll have a few more planned for 2026 as well. The act of cooking for someone represents showing someone you care about them. Whenever I would visit my Korean friend’s home, my friend’s mother’s first question after greeting you would be “Have you eaten yet?” or “Want some food?” or wordlessly bring some snacks. My mom is the same – when my friend would come over as a kid, she would do the same. A lot of Italians can relate with their own mothers and grandmothers. It’s also a form of learning and delving into a culture, getting to know the ingredients that are so integral to another culture and also where it comes from / how it’s grown or produced.
[MA] What meaning do you give to the word “selvatico”, what comes to mind when you hear it?
[MB] When I was a kid, I discovered books by Reinhold Messner and was captivated by the photos of the enormous, empty, glacial landscapes of the big mountains. I remember him saying he was “always drawn to the wild places” and I dreamed of going there, too. But I grew up in a port town with a big beach resort and then lived my entire adult life in New York, so it didn’t happen. About twenty years later, I felt that call again and decided to become an alpinist and see those places for myself. Proximity to the Alps was a major reason for moving to northern Italy. When I hear the word “selvatico” I think of the wild frozen places where I always remember how small humans really are; and I think of the freedom you can feel out there, away from civilization, which comes with some risk, of course.That same combination exists with Kimchi Pop, you have both great freedom and risk in entrepreneurship. I once got what I thought was my dream job that came complete with a salary and a boss and a cubicle with no windows. I lasted a few months before I went crazy. I’ve worked for myself for the last fifteen years. Maybe Erin would tell you it’s because I’m an Aquarius, but I’ve always preferred doing things my own way, alone if necessary. For my 40th birthday, my father gave me a bronze sculpture of a wild boar with a little plaque that says “ALWAYS WILD.” I was pretty puzzled when I opened it, but clearly he knows my nature.
[EK] I love this word selvatico in both English (wild) and Italian (selvatico). For some reason, it makes me immediately think about this really famous Kate Moss quote where she said something like “My mom used to say to me, 'You can't have fun all the time,' and I used to say, 'Why not?' Why the fuck can't I have fun all the time?” To me that means selvatico, freedom from expectations and limits from outside and also the limitations you set in your own mind too about yourself.
[MB] I love that. A movie that had a big impact on me as a teenager, Velvet Goldmine, about glam rock, ends with the words “there's a freedom you can have, if you let yourself.”