Chusok & Songphyon
Chusok, or harvest moon festival, is a popular folk holiday falling on the 15th of the eighth month by the lunar calendar.
From old days the Korean people celebrated the day to commemorate the bumper harvest and to honour their ancestors.
That day people offered to their ancestors foods prepared with early rice and other grains such as mung bean, adzuki bean and soy bean.
And on the eve of the holiday, they prepared holiday dishes, typically rice cakes made of newly harvested crops, soups, wine and sweets.
They made a variety of rice cakes including glutinuous rice cake, and the one most associated with the holiday is songphyon, half-moon-shaped rice cake stuffed with beans and cooked on a layer of pine needles.
From old days the Korean people celebrated the day to commemorate the bumper harvest and to honour their ancestors.
That day people offered to their ancestors foods prepared with early rice and other grains such as mung bean, adzuki bean and soy bean.
And on the eve of the holiday, they prepared holiday dishes, typically rice cakes made of newly harvested crops, soups, wine and sweets.
They made a variety of rice cakes including glutinuous rice cake, and the one most associated with the holiday is songphyon, half-moon-shaped rice cake stuffed with beans and cooked on a layer of pine needles.
Makkolli
Makkolli is a traditional drink of the Korean nation with a long history.
It is made by mixing starchy materials with malt and fermenting it before filtering.
Makkolli literally means an unrefined liquor.
It is also called thakju, thakbaegi, nongju or nongthak in some areas.
Thakju derives its name from the cloudy colour of the liquor, and thakbaegi from the earthen bowl containing it, and nongju and nongthak from the fact that peasants liked the drink.
It was commonly called makkolli across the country, and much favoured by the Korean people.
