Daeryeong Suksu(Royal Chef), is a head chef who made dishes for
the Kings of Joseon dynasty. Whenever there were big ceremonies
or parties in the Palace of Chosun dynasty, Royal Chef has been
summoned by the King to prepare the food and dishes for the events.

Royal Chef were mainly male chef not female. The title of Royal Chef
was inherited to their descendants to serve the Dynasty.

The profession of Daeryeong Suksu(Royal Chef) in the Joseon
Dynasty can be likened to Michelin-starred chefs of today, as they
were considered the finest culinary experts of their time. The term
Suksu (熟手) literally means "a person who prepares food for
banquets." In the Joseon Dynasty, male cooks who prepared
banquet tables for commoners or worked in the auxiliary kitchens
of the royal palace were referred to as Suksu. Among them, those
who prepared food for the king and royal family were given the
special title Daeryeong Suksu (待令熟手), meaning "a chef awaiting
royal orders."

Like many civil servants working in the royal palace during the
Joseon Dynasty, Daeryeong Suksu commuted to work and lived
with their families outside the palace after marriage. When their sons
turned ten, they would accompany their fathers to assist with tasks
and learn the art of cooking, eventually inheriting the position of
Suksu. The king’s daily meals were typically prepared in the
sojubang (small kitchen), but during large-scale banquets like
jinyeon (royal feasts) or jinchan (royal receptions), food was
prepared in a temporary kitchen called gaga (假家).

The Suragan was a key location responsible for preparing royal
cuisine. Unlike the elaborate names of other palace buildings, it
utilized a simple and practical name. The signboard was inscribed
with elegant calligraphy in the royal style, reflecting the strict
formalities and dignity of the Joseon Dynasty.

Cooking, both in the past and present, has been an arduous
profession, closer to physical labor than mere work. Consequently,
the preparation and cooking of food were primarily regarded as
tasks for men. According to the Gyeongguk Daejeon (the Joseon
Dynasty’s code of law), the gender ratio in the Suragan (royal
kitchen) was recorded as 15 men to 1 woman. In fact, during King
Sejong's reign, out of 388 servants working in the Suragan, over
370 were male. Due to this imbalance, a comedic situation arose in
the 15th year of Sejong’s reign (1453), when the Ming Dynasty
demanded skilled female cooks. This led to an urgent selection and
training of women in cooking to send them abroad.

The depiction of court banquets, or feasts, held in Joseon palaces
can be seen in the painting Seonmyo Jojejaegyeong Suyeondo. This
artwork portrays a celebratory feast called Gyeongsuyeon (a banquet
held in honor of an elderly mother over 70 years old) in five scenes.
In these scenes, the activities of royal chefs (suksu) in temporary
kitchens outside the palace walls are vividly illustrated. These suksu
can be considered the equivalent of today’s professional catering
service providers. For such feasts, a temporary kitchen called
Jochanso was set up, and the painting shows the suksu preparing
food, stoking fires, and bustling about in preparation for the
celebration.

Given the significance of cooking for the royal palace, being a suksu
came with great responsibility. The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty
recount an incident during Emperor Gojong's reign, the first emperor
of the Korean Empire, where a mistake in the royal meal led to severe
consequences. In 1903, the 40th year of Gojong’s reign, sand found
in raw mussels served on the royal table caused damage to the
emperor's teeth. As a result, it was proposed that Kim Won-geun, the
head suksu at the time, along with several others, be punished by
flogging or imprisonment. However, Emperor Gojong showed
leniency by pardoning them from flogging and instead exiling or
sparing them from imprisonment.

From the late Joseon period, following the Imjin War, the roles of
male chefs within the palace began to specialize. In addition to the
head chef (Daeryeong Suksu), there were roles such as Jogwa
Suksu for making rice cakes and traditional sweets, Jubang Suksu
working in the Sojubang (a small kitchen within the palace), and
other specialized positions such as Saemyeonjang for noodle
making, Sanghwabyeongjang for dumpling preparation, and Jukjang
for porridge making, which emerged during this period.

In the modern era, during the Japanese colonial period, a significant
number of these chefs lost their jobs. As the Korean Empire was
forcibly annexed by Japan, the scale of the palace was drastically
reduced, leaving many chefs unemployed. However, this period also
saw the opening of Korea's first modern-style restaurant, which
provided a new opportunity for these chefs. Sunhwan Ahn, who had
served as the chief of Jeonseonsa and Juseonsa in the Gungnaebu
(the institution responsible for the emperor's meals during the Korean
Empire), hired these chefs and established the Joseon Cuisine
House, Myeongwolgwan.

Opened in the early 1900s at the Gwanghwamun intersection,
Myeongwolgwan was not only Korea's first modern restaurant but
also the first place where ordinary people could taste food that was
once exclusively served to royalty.