Netflix’s first Korean cooking competition series quickly became a global hit, with Taiwan ranking as one of the most enthusiastic markets.
The Taiwan Creative Content Fest was hosted by Studio Slam producer Eunji Kim, who explained how the series evolved from a rough idea to a fully realized format.
Before “Culinary Class Wars,” Kim and her team produced “Sing Again,” a 2020 talent show that spotlighted Korean singers who released albums but failed to gain mainstream recognition. That experience formed the basic idea for the next project. “We wanted to create a competition show for chefs,” Kim said. “But our first question was how do we stand out against long-running giants like ‘Top Chef’?”
For the team, the answer was rooted in local culture. “This is a Korean variety show. We needed a cultural symbol that spoke directly to Korean viewers,” Kim said. In Korea, spoons are a powerful symbol of social class. This concept inspired one of the show’s signature visual cues, the division between white spoon chefs representing the culinary elite and black spoon chefs representing lesser-known talent.
Although not all participants immediately embraced the class-based format, the creative team considered it central to the show’s DNA. From the early stages of development, they have focused on the dramatic tension of hidden classification systems as the core engine of competition. “From a production standpoint, we really stuck to the structure of the show,” Kim said. “But how the chefs performed, how they expressed themselves and how they promoted themselves was completely improvised.”
Through careful editing and narrative shaping, the team ultimately discovered that cultural specificity did not limit the show. Instead, its themes resonated with audiences around the world. Following the success of the first season, the response from the culinary world changed dramatically. “In Season 2, many chefs who initially turned down the show actually came back after watching the show,” Kim revealed. “That boomerang effect proved that our approach was not only creatively sound, but had real commercial value.”
From Korean cuisine and culturally ingrained symbols to a competition format that speaks a universal entertainment language, Culinary Class Wars has gained extraordinary visibility on Netflix while pioneering a new style of reality competition storytelling. As the series heads into its new season, viewers around the world are looking forward to even more compelling stories that go far beyond the kitchen.
