Kimchang and the tradition of cooperation
Today families are much smaller and many people have their lunch or
evening meal away from home. Naturally, kimchi at home is less spent
than it used to be. Also vegetables are always available, though a little
more expensive, even in late winter or in early spring. Thus the size of
the winter kimchi stock is not greater than ten
cabbagees for many homes, and some homes
do away with kimchang altogether.
However, kimchang kimchi with a hundred or even two
hundred cabbages in the old times was a very important work, not a
"household" work but an annual "event" which could only be done with
the help from neighbors.
A group of neighbors consisting of five or six men and women with
deft hands would help homes one by one without any reward, not only
with kimchang, but also with every other hard work. The
helped family then returns their gratitude with joining in the force to
help other families. The practice was very usual in the old times when
the society was based on agriculture but, unfortunately, is now
disappearing in the industrial cities. The tradition is kept only by the
full-time housewives in the cities.
These helpers at kimchang usually do the work of rinsing the
salted vegetables and mixing in the stuffing. This is a hard work which
lasts a whole day. The host family treats them with best lunch.
Salting and preparing the stuffing works are done only by the hosting
family, which is why the kimchi made by many people tastes different
from home to home. When the kimchi is fermented, families would
share little portions of their winter kimchi
with each other and exchange opinions.
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