Editing Korean cuisine (section)

===Dining===
[[File:Bapsang.jpg|thumb|A single-person ''bapsang'' (meal table). Each person was given a table in a traditional dining setting.]]
[[File:Korean chopsticks and spoon-Sujeo-01.jpg|thumb|160px|Korean [[chopsticks]] and [[spoon]] made of [[stainless steel]].]]
Dining etiquette in Korea can be traced back to the [[Confucian]] philosophies of the [[Joseon dynasty|Joseon period]]. Guidebooks, such as ''[[Sasojeol]]'' (士小節, ''Elementary Etiquette for Scholar Families''), written in 1775 by Yi Deokmu ({{Korean|hangul=이덕무|hanja=李德懋|labels=no}}), comment on the dining etiquette for the period. Suggestions include items such as "when you see a fat cow, goat, pig, or chicken, do not immediately speak of slaughtering, cooking or eating it",<ref name="Quote1">Yi Tŏngmu 62.</ref> "when you are having a meal with others, do not speak of smelly or dirty things, such as boils or [[diarrhea]],"<ref name="Quote1"/> "when eating a meal, neither eat so slowly as to appear to be eating against your will nor so fast as if to be taking someone else's food. Do not throw chopsticks on the table. Spoons should not touch plates, making a clashing sound",<ref name="Quote1"/> among many other recommendations which emphasized proper [[table etiquette]].

Other than the etiquette mentioned above, blowing one's nose when having a meal is considered an inappropriate act as well.

The eldest male at the table was always served first, and was commonly served in the men's quarters by the women of the house. Women usually dined in a separate portion of the house after the men were served. The eldest men or women always ate before the younger family members. The meal was usually quiet, as conversation was discouraged during meals. In modern times, these rules have become lax, as families usually dine together now and use the time to converse. Of the remaining elements of this decorum, one is that the younger members of the table should not pick up their [[chopsticks]] or start eating before the elders of the table or guests and should not finish eating before the elders or guests finish eating.{{Sfn|Pettid|2008|p=159}}<ref name="Jang et al. 2005, p.102">Jang et al. (2005, p.102).</ref>

In Korea, unlike in other East Asian cuisines such as [[Chinese cuisine|Chinese]] and [[Japanese cuisine|Japanese]], the rice or soup bowl is not lifted from the table when eating from it. This is due to the fact that each diner is given a metal spoon along with the chopsticks known collectively as [[sujeo]]. The use of the spoon for eating rice and soups is expected. There are rules which reflect the decorum of sharing communal side dishes; rules include not picking through the dishes for certain items while leaving others, and the spoon used should be clean, because usually diners put their spoons in the same serving bowl on the table. Diners should also cover their mouths when using a [[toothpick]] after the meal.{{sfn|Pettid|2008|p=159}}<ref name="Jang et al. 2005, p.102"/>

The table setup is important as well, and individual place settings, moving from the diner's left should be as follows: rice bowl, spoon, then chopsticks. Hot foods are set to the right side of the table, with the cold foods to the left. Soup must remain on the right side of the diner along with [[stew]]s. Vegetables remain on the left along with the rice, and [[kimchi]] is set to the back while sauces remain in the front.{{sfn|Pettid|2008|p=159}}