Kimchi!

My co-worker sent me a press release about a cardiologist named Dr. Asher Kimchi who will receive the "Passion of the Heart Award" at the American Heart Association Heart Awards Gala.

This prompted a Google search. We found that the root of the family name Kimchi comes from Kemach, which means flour in Hebrew.

But, another Google result had me drooling onto my keyboard. The Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corp. kimchi Web site has everything you ever wanted to know about kimchi, its ingredients and health benefits (according to the site, it helps prevent constipation, enteritis, colonitis, acid toxicosis, obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal cancers and arteriosclerosis; helps with digestion and suppressing aging; has lots of vitamin C; and more), along with recipes for kimchi, Korean dishes, and Western dishes that incorporate kimchi (spaghetti, pizza, pork cutlets -- sorry, no burgers).

The site also has a page on the cute, trademarked kimchi character, developed back in 2000 to "promote the excellency of Korean kimchi and to emphasize the difference from Japanese kimuchi."

(Last year I went to the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival -- which, BTW, is this weekend -- in Japantown, and one of the food booths was serving what looked to be kalbi with kimchi. At the time I thought, "Since when is kalbi and kimchi Japanese?" The kimuchi link above helps explain the Korean/Japanese kimchi dispute.)

Now I'm craving kimchi. Good thing I have a jar at home. :D