‘Recipe for Farewell’: Emotional K-Drama Is Based on a Real-Life Story About the Writer and His Wife
One of December’s most heartwarming K-dramas is Recipe for Farewell. The emotional Slice of Life K-drama focuses on a married couple and their family dealing with the inevitable cancer diagnosis. But the story of Recipe for Farewell is based on Kang Chang-rae’s non-fiction novel about the true events of his wife’s cancer and her wish to cook her delicious meals.
A devoted husband cooks his wife and children nutritious and delicious food in ‘Recipe for Farewell’
Dr. Romantic actor Han Suk-kyu and Nobody Knows star Kim Seo-hyung lead the K-drama as a married couple. Chang-wook (Han) is in his 40s and works as a translator and humanities instructor. But his life changes when his wife, Da-jung (Kim), is diagnosed with terminal colorectal cancer. As they deal with it as a family, Da-jung has trouble eating and asks her husband to cook meals for her. But there is one problem, Chang-wook is not skilled in the kitchen and can only make a pot of ramen.
Wanting to help his wife, Chang-wook learns to cook delicious and healthy meals for her and their son. As they ride the waves of a horrible illness, Chang-wook begins to see the cracks in their family. He works to mend them as his teenage son is also going through puberty. Actor Jin Ho-eun plays the role of their son Jae-ho.
Recipe for Farewell is a must-watch emotional K-drama about family, life, and relying on happy moments to move forward. But before it became an on-screen live-action, Recipe for Farewell was first a novel by Kang Chang-rae and his real-life story with his wife and her terminal cancer.
Kang Chan-rae wrote a non-fiction novel about his process of cooking for his wife in 2018
At first glance, Recipe for Farewell sounds like an emotional December K-drama that would tug at the heartstrings of even the most cold-hearted viewers. But the story has a real-life aspect that makes watching the episodes even more heartfelt. In 2018, author Kang Chang-rae published “Oneuleun Jom Maewoolji Molla.”
It is his story as a husband who keeps a diary as he learns how to cook for his ill wife. Fans may find that the storyline is about a husband taking time from work to care for his wife and mend his family’s broken relationship. But according to director Lee Ho-jae, there is another story at play.
“When writer Kang’s wife asked to take care of her, there should have been a feeling underlying, ‘Will this person be able to make a proper meal after I die?’ and ‘How will the two (husband and son) get along without me?'” explains Lee, according to K-Odyssey. “The food might have symbolized the wife getting taken care of, but in a way, it seemed to also show how she is growing her husband and a son,” he said. “In that sense, I think our drama will remind us once again of the concept of ‘eating together’.”
Director Lee explains he did not want to deviate from the original story and novel created by Kang. A big part of Recipe for Farewell was not to make the characters seem “pitiful.” Instead, “I put the appearance of pain between the lines, and I focused on the days when the characters were not in pain.”
Who stars in the cast for ‘Recipe for Farewell’ K-drama?
Besides the storyline, fans will feel inclined to watch the K-drama thanks to its two leading actors. Han and Kim are acting veterans and have starred in well-known K-dramas and movies in their careers. One of Han’s most significant claims to fame is in the medical K-drama Dr. Romantic, which will return for its third season. He also has many movie roles, including The Prison, Forbidden Dream, Solace, and many more.
Han’s co-star is also famed for her many small-screen and movie roles. K-drama fans will recognize her as the Empress Dowager in the critically acclaimed historical drama Empress Ki. Kim also played the leading role in the K-drama remake of the American series The Good Wife as Seo Myung-Hee.
She has starred in some of the most acclaimed K-dramas in recent years. In 2019 and 2020, she played the leading role of Kim Joo-young in Sky Castle and detective Cha Young-jin in Nobody Knows. Kim has gained recent fame for her role in tvN’s Mine.
Actor Jin Ho-eun has starred in popular K-drama over the past year. He played the role of Jung Min-jae in Netflix’s coming-of-age zombie K-drama, All of Us Are Dead. Jin also starred in Sh**ting Stars and the Disney+ series Revenge of Others.
