Chef says Kim Jong Un loves foie gras and caviar

By: Tamar L.

Kim Jong Un reportedly enjoys chowing down on fancy dishes like foie gras, caviar and lobster while the North Korean people suffer from food shortages.

Chef Paul Smart — who was tasked with cooking for the chairman and President Trump during second summit in Vietnam last month — described how the North Korean team told him about their leader’s favorite foods and brought their own luxurious ingredients.

“He really likes to dine and experience cuisine for what it is,” Smart said, according to the South China Morning Post.

He said some of the secret ingredients include Wagyu beef, kimchi, foie gras ginseng and persimmon punch.

About an hour before serving the dishes prepared by Smart’s team, the North Koreans, who were “mysterious, but very professional,” nibbled on the food to make sure it was safe, the chef said.

Smart, the executive chef at Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel where the summit was held, served the leaders a dinner of steak and kimchi-stuffed pear on February 27, the first day of talks.

But the next day’s lunch of fois gras and snow fish was scrapped when the talks fell through.

Earlier this month, Smart told Agence France-Presse that President Trump wanted his steak well done, but Kim wanted it medium-rare to rare, showing the hermit leader’s appreciation for quality.

The lavish meals, however, don’t extend to the rest of the hermit kingdom’s population.

A United Nations report published this month found that North Korean food production fell to its lowest level in over a decade in 2018, leaving millions without enough to eat.