Recipe for Farewell (2022)

A true enrichment for the KDrama Orbit.

"Recipe for Farewell" is about food for body and soul. About the health-promoting function of food. A meal prepared with care and love may have this function - even in the paradoxical situation where eating is actually no longer possible: in the final stage of cancer in the gastrointestinal tract.

As the story is also about cancer, surprising enough this KDrama is not primarily about dramatically approaching the inevitable death. Eventually, sorrow, fear and decay are not neglected, yet the focus is on joy and pleasure in sensual enjoyment of a freshly and carefully prepared meal. It is about the time you share over a meal. About this deliberately sensory, genuine here and now time together. A good, unforgettable time.

In this KDrama two quite opposing moods harmoniously go hand in hand. Death, pain and farewell may hang about. However, life and the joy of it are not overshadowed by impending death. In fact, "Recipe for Farewell" is not gloomy or heavy. Rather, it emits somehow velvety-silky, comfortably warm rays of light whenever it threatens to get dark and in spite of sadness.

In KDrama there is always eating and drinking at some point. Now that's not special. But in "Recipe for Farewell" everything to do with (Korean) food is intelligently, sensitively, carefully, sensually and lovingly mixed in a stylish way. Eating becomes an explicit topic - from the carefully chosen recipe, mindful purchase and loving preparation to conscious consumption. Each episode is named after a Korean dish. You can learn a lot if you like. In any case it is enjoyable to watch - aesthetic, stimulating, inspiring.

Apart from recipes and the preparation of the dishes, the story draws attention to the essence of food: to the radiance that passes from food to soul. To the joy of being alive. To the gift of being part of this eternal process of transformation that is life: From seed to flower, fruit, leaf, root, color, smell, touch, taste, temperature, liquefaction, finally compost, gases... and dissolved into air.

The story is based on an autobiography of the same name. In it, author Kang Chang-Rae describes how by cooking for his terminally ill wife he actually started cooking from scratch. And that triggered quite a bit - within himself and people around him, too. "Recipe for Farewell" doesn´t aim for your heart. It goes even deeper and reaches out to your gut. This is about ´true and sound´. The characteristic gaze of the protagonist, who is deliberately focused on his job as a chef in the home kitchen, is rather simple and objective. Eventually, by unpretentiously doing his job, their flows dynamic new life within the relationships with his ex-wife and his son, too.

Eating together - the meal - becomes the symbol of the truce of all worldly disturbing topics and opens the way to community -> connection -> bonding -> closeness ... by sharing space, time and the (eating) joy, to be alive (= to be able to see, smell, taste and digest).
The original idea is based on an impulse, that came from his ex-wife, when she actively asked him to cook for her during this last few months - and thus be and remain there for their son (who lives with her) when she can no longer. She wishes for peace between father and son, at the latest when she is gone.

Such a final farewell process may be painful for everyone. The disease itself may be painful. This is acknowledged by this KDrama. Yet, the focus is rather on the shared time together when the mother, father and son feel GOOD with one another. "Recipe for Farewell" truly presents a wonderful recipe for saying goodbye - loving, calm, grounded, with simple, three-dimensional sincerity and warmth. Leaving father, son and audience - although sad as it may be at times - with a positive, thankful outlook on life.

"Recipe for Farewell" runs on the South Korean streaming provider Watcha and is very popular there. The series may even trump the acclaimed production "Semantic Error". In any case, the number of paying subscribers noticeably increased during first week of broadcasting... And in the Watchapedia app, the KDrama is ranked 1st among 190 series from 2022 with 4.5 out of 5 possible points in the viewer rating. I agree. Pretty much everything is done right here. The actors are doing a fantastic job, too!

A true enrichment for the KDrama Orbit.

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Calming and mundane. Wrapped in a thin layer of sadness that gets thicker as you watch.

"People can die of longing. Still, we were diligently making memories that we would be longing for every day."

Even with the heartbreaking theme, the show had this peaceful aura about it. While not much was happening (with half of the episodes being cooking scenes with Han Seok Kyu’s narration over it) it just felt right. This show gives you pause to breathe and enjoy the moment while also slowly taking the breath away when you know what’s coming at the end.

It has gracefully balanced between the warm and happy moments and the harsh truth of the reality the family had to face. Recipe for Farewell does not show you the whole journey. It gives you bits and pieces, the moments, but it’s enough to understand the whole process and relate to the characters.

It’s a small story, happening in a small area with a small number of characters, yet it has a big heart and many amazing messages. It’s going to make you smile, laugh, cry. You are going to feel grateful for what you have, appreciating all the small things we usually ignore and take for granted in life. It talks about loss, grief, accepting the inevitable, maturing and putting aside our egocentric nature, reconnecting with people in your life.

All of that was possible thanks to the great writing and directing, but also phenomena acting from the whole cast. I cannot even describe how amazing of the job everyone did in this project.

Is this show for everyone? No. And I don’t mean it in a rude way, as if only “intellectuals” can enjoy it. It’s just truly character driven, truly mundane and truly not focused on the entertainment aspect. As much as I enjoyed it, I can easily see someone else finding it boring.

Overall, it’s a true gem. It’s not a show you watch for entertainment. It’s not something you put as a background while cleaning. It’s something you should enjoy at your own pace, free from external distractions.

Side note at the end, but Yang Su Won is one of the most amazing characters from all 2022 drama. On the other hand, closer to the end I started to strongly dislike Yeo Jin…

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