Something’s cooking in South Korea involving pet lovers who are enrolling in educational courses on how to cook for their pets to guarantee that it’s safe, tasty and healthy.
There are YouTube tutorials on the subject, but it’s also now easy to enroll in hourly demo sessions and certificate cooking programs in South Korea. As demand for these newly minted courses grow so is the number of providers that range from one-man teams and pop-ups to private organizations and government units invested in helping citizens find something new to do.
In fact, there is a private organization in South Korea whose sole purpose is to train the next pet food master chef and pet patisserie master. They clearly called themselves the Korea Pet Food Education Development Institute, catering exclusively to those who want a career in pet food.
Those who finish the Pet Food Master program or the Pet Patisserie Master course are expected to conduct research and development on pet food as well as to train other aspirants who want to get into pet food as a hobby or business. The master courses are worth 2 million won (about US$1500) and include written and practical tests and qualification certificates.
Meanwhile, a municipal administration agency called the Yuseong-gu Office recently offered a series of one-day pet cooking classes that proved popular among female pet lovers in their 30s and 40s, The Korea Herald reported. The classes teach participants how to make versions of popular human treats like cookies, rice balls and pound cake for pets. The next classes promise to accommodate more students.
There is also a private pet cooking class in English based in Seoul that welcomes children from 10 years old and above. Participants can bring their own dogs to the class. For about US$38, participants will try their hand at cooking recipes for homemade treats that are tasty and beneficial to dogs. A class runs for 75 minutes, during which students will also learn how to prepare ingredients for easy digestion, bake their own treats and feed them to their dogs on the spot.
Those who fancy making cakes for their pets can enroll at One More Trip in Seoul, which offers pet cake baking class taught in Korean. A participant must fork US$30 on average to join the two-hour class. A bonus: pets can sit in during the lessons.
The pet cooking classes are fun, but they also reveal the discontent that pet owners feel about the quality of store-bought pet food. For those who prefer to cook for their pets, the kibbles and canned meat are no longer standard fare but simply convenient options.