Abstract

This study was conducted to provide data on awareness and use of traditional foods, suggesting the desirable ways to succeed and develop traditional foods, and the possible direction of policies and applications for food industry. The study also aimed to figure out awareness of traditional food and dietary life behaviors of married women in order to offer or draw attention to new information for better healthy life styles. Five hundred and ten married women in parts of Seoul and Kyongki area were surveyed to figure out their awareness and use of traditional foods including some of fermented foods, such as Kimchi, Doenjang(soybean paste), and Gochujang(hot pepper paste). The results were summarized as follows. First the overall satisfaction degree with traditional foods reached as high as 74.4%. They preferred traditional foods because they are healthy(38.8%), seasonally celebrated(29.9%), and well known for a variety of fermented foods(28%). Second, Kimchi, Doenjang and Gochujang, home-made or factory manufactured in an old-fashioned way, were preferred. Third, the most frequently cooked traditional foods were Kimchi Chigae and Doenjang Chigae. The most preferred cooking methods using Gochujang were Jorim(stewing) and Bokkeum(roasting). These results showed that Kimchi, Doenjang, and Gochujang were still used in cooking by married women in parts of Seoul and kyongki area, which says those are still the traditional foods most of women think as important and essential. The producers of traditional foods have to consider the safety and improvement of taste and quality of ingredients in addition to the convenience in cooking, More researches should be conducted to enhance these aspects and to develop functional foods to satisfy various needs of consumers and to improve their health.

Keywords

• Married women;
• fermented foods;
• Kimchi;
• Doenjang;
• Gochujang