Born and raised in Seogwipo, she spent more than forty years as the eldest daughter-in-law of a jongsonga — the head household of an extended family, responsible for its ancestral rites and its table. She took charge of the kitchen young, and the flavors settled into her hands over long, demanding years. Kimchi made with hairtail, meoljeot (fermented anchovy) and jarijeot (fermented damselfish) came down to her through generations; the fifty-odd pickles and jangajji she developed herself. What began as food shared with neighbors spread by word of mouth. Enough people came asking to learn that she began teaching — so the flavors would carry on beyond her own kitchen. Those years earned her titles — daega, myeongin, the Korean words for a master of a craft. She still describes herself more simply: a Jeju native who knows little outside the island's traditional cooking.