To most Koreans a meal without kimchi would be incomplete, or even unthinkable. In all its variations, kimchi provides the Korean diet with essential vitamins as well as a distinctive flavor that invariably draws strong reactions from the first-time taster. Destractors protest that their nostrils and taste buds are overwhelmed by the garlic and hot red peppers that season the best-known cabbage and turnip kimchi.
Aficionados find the assault on their senses sheer delight and keep coming back for more.
There is no mention of the use of garlic or red peppers in legends about the origin of kimchi or in early historical records of kimchi making. The origin of kimchi is attributed to a poor farmer who carried several old heads of cabbage to the sea to wash and freshen them. He noticed that these rather meager heads seemed to grow bulkier after sitting in the salty water, and decided he was onto something great. His puny cabbage would become hearty and he would have more food for himself and his family. He left the cabbages to soak and returned expectantly the next morning, only to find that the pot he had left them in was half empty.