I would love to introduce my good friend Keeyeon Daniel Warren as our guest writer for this fourth 'Ghetto Gourmet' dinner. Keeyeon was one of the first people that I met when I came to Seoul a few years back. To be honest, I wasn't really impressed with him at first, hahaha. However, over time I have come to just love this guy! He's one of those 'the more you get to know him, you naturally grow more attached' kind of guys. I can honestly say he's like family to me here in Seoul. His witty sense of humor will always bring a smile no matter how bad my day can be. Him and his wife Youngwan are truly one of those amazing couples where together they make a great team. Keeyeon is currently a partner of Relevant Matter with Jonathan Carfield, and they both launched 'Korea Bites' last year. If you see a guy wearing plaid wool pants rolled up, fashionable glasses, carrying a mandarin puck bag with funky socks and moccasin like shoes on the streets of Seoul-that's him. Just give him a shout:)

Well, here we go again. Time for me to report on Ghetto Gourmet’s fourth installment, and this time it was hosted by Tom and Jen of

TomEatsJenCooks

at their new home in Garosugil. Two months ago. It is said that British in general are a punctual bunch. Obviously, I am not British as this article is being handed in two months late.

It is also said that British food is not much to be desired. I know, I know... some of the best restaurants in the world can be found in Britain, but these are spearheaded in my mind by names like White, Ramsey, Oliver and Blumenthal. Having never been to the British Isles, my personal relationship with British food was through secondary venues in the form of “British Pubs”... in America or places like Thailand.

I have to be honest. Originally, our hosts were thinking of doing Italian (Tom would make fresh pasta) or Mexican (one of Jen’s specialties). Youngwan and I were pumped. We talked about how great it would be if there were fresh pumpkin and honey raviolis, or perhaps some proper fajitas with homemade pico de gayo. Foodporn imagination gone wild. Imagine my surprise, when Tom and Jen announced that the theme would be British. My imagination dried right up. What type of food is British? Being a big fan of offal, I was thinking perhaps haggis. Fried eggs? What do the British eat? Let’s all try a little mental exercise. You have three minutes to write down all the foods associated with Britain. If you managed to write down more than four, then congratulations, you beat me by two.

The night arrived and the menu revealed. Vegemite and cheddar scones (damn it, I forgot about Vegemite), Classic Scotch egg (What’s this? I love Scotch!), ale and mushroom pie (damn it, I forgot about savory pies), and apple crumble (I thought this was American?)

The Vegemite-cheddar scones were an interesting pairing. I am not the biggest fan of Vegemite, but I do like it from time to time, and this scone had a nice hint of the yeasty gem that played well with the cheddar. The classic Scotch egg disappointed immediately, when it was made known that there was in fact no Scotch in the egg. I was hoping for some gastronomic magic where, Jen would suck out runny yolk through a perfectly cooked egg whites using a syringe, then filling the empty cavity with Scotch. Awesome! Who is with me? I was so very wrong. It was a different kind of gastronomic magic. Tom and Jen explained that traditionally, a Scotch egg consists of a hard-boiled egg (with its shell removed) wrapped in a sausage meat mixture, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. No Scotch. What made these eggs magical was that the yolk was still runny. The combination of crisp-fried meat “jacket” with mellow yellow yolk oozing out onto a bed of salad greens was my favorite of the evening. Jen went through a share of eggs to make sure the eggs were just perfect. Her effort and execution was enjoyed by all. The ale and mushroom pie was full of umami and made me crave for a proper pint of ale. Finally, the apple crumble was perfect autumn dessert to finished the evening.