Baking bread in Joseon

Jemulpo (modern Incheon) in the late 1880s or early 1890s. Daibutsu Hotel can be seen in the center. Robert Neff Collection

By Robert Neff

The morning of March 27, 1884 was cold but invigorating. Naval surgeon George W. Woods, a crewmember of the American warship, the U.S.S. Juniata, and a guest of the American ambassador to Korea, had arrived in Seoul the previous night with a couple other officers from the ship. Woods woke up to the smell of pine smoke and the sound of a servant stoking the fire in the "ondol" (underfloor heating system). Unlike his peers ― who were still suffering from their trek ― Woods was anxious to explore the city. In a letter home he wrote:

"It was a pleasant sensation to get up with bare feet, and feel the surprising warmth of the stone floor covered with matting, and the general tempering of the atmosphere, so agreeable as to make the toilet a pleasure. Why is it that [the] most pleasant things are preached as unhealthy: a cold room, and cold water, and rough towels insure health; while all that is warm, and soft, and desirable is denounced?"

Adding to his comfort was the pitcher of hot water for his bathing, his boots freshly polished and a cup of hot coffee and toast. With the edge taken off his appetite, freshly washed and dressed in clean and warm clothing, he set out to explore the capital of the Land of the Morning Calm. It was a short jaunt. The nip in the air and the recollections of how some Christians were reported to have died (soaked with water and allowed to suffocate in the ice that formed around them) in the streets not so distant in the past, convinced him to retrace his steps to the American legation. Here he found his companions and his hosts "ready to go into breakfast, which was a thoroughly good American meal with hot bread, cakes and maple syrup."

It has often been said that bread, pastries and cakes were introduced to the Korean Peninsula by Western missionaries, but, for the most part, they (with the exception of the Catholic missionaries) didn't arrive until the next year. Rose Foote, the wife of the American Minister to Korea (Lucius Foote) was an avid baker and often sent cakes, bread, homemade jams and preserves to the Korean palace and the royal family.

She was also fond of treating visiting naval officers to home-cooked meals ― all accompanied with pastries and other baked goods. The naval officers were not the only ones eating bread ― the sailors aboard the U.S.S. Juniata consumed a surprisingly large amount of bread. According to the logbooks, the ship was consuming about 184 pounds of fresh beef, a similar amount of vegetables and 150 pounds of bread.

The crew of an unidentified ship. Circa late 19th century. Robert Neff Collection

The bread was, undoubtedly, not the soft fluffy kind baked in Mrs. Foote's oven, but probably more like hardtack or sailors' bread. In his July 16, 2014 blog post for the U.S.S. Constitution Museum, Matthew Brenckle described sailors' bread as "a round, wheaten biscuit of obdurate hardness, the size of a man's fist and as edible as flint. What it lacked in digestibility it made up for with longevity…"

Eating sailors' bread was no easy task; it required strong teeth, jaws and determination or a lot of liquid or soup to soften them up. No wonder it also served as a form of punishment.

The logbooks from American warships visiting Korea in the 1880s and 1890s are filled with the names of sailors and marines who were punished with several days' of solitary confinement with bread and water. Some of their offenses were relatively mild ("using very obscene language on berth deck," and "reproachful language") while other offenses were more serious such as disobeying an order, lying, "gross disrespect," insolence, shirking, "using reproachful words," quarreling, absent without leave (AWOL), drinking and smuggling alcohol aboard ship ― it is amazing how often sailors, while engaged in target practice on shore, were able to purchase alcohol from Korean villagers.

It is probably safe to assume that much of this bread, at least in the beginning, was brought to Jemulpo (modern Incheon) from Japan or China. However, considering that steamships very infrequently visited the port in 1884, some of the bread may have been made at Harry's Hotel or even at the first Daibutsu Hotel ― advertisements indicate that the remodeled Daibutsu Hotel in the late 1880s had a bakery. By the 1890s, there were several bakeries operating in Jemulpo and Seoul providing the foreign community ― and affluent Korean households ― with little treats.

Bread is now very popular in Korea ― especially the "unhealthy types" and the amount consumed is likely to continue to increase. As for the American sailors and marines, "bread and water" remained ― at least on the books ― as a punishment until 2019 when it was finally abolished by the U.S. Navy.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.