SEOUL—Park Shin-hye can now make paella. She spent a month in Spain to do the shoot of Netflix Originals’ “Memories of the Alhambra.” When she came to the Philippines last year, she revealed how much she enjoys cooking for other people.
She said that Granada had a lot of great produce and seafood to offer. The ingredients could easily be made into paella. However, she revealed at the roundtable interview with Super in Gangnam that she took care of the members staff through food.
“We had a lot of Korean staff who could not adjust to Spanish food. That was why I got together with a couple of people and we made tteokbokki there to provide snack for them,” she said.
Tteokbokki is a spicy Korean snack readily available on the streets. The rice cakes in tteokbokki can be made with rice flour and salt. The ingredients for the sauce include gojuchang or chilli paste, soy sauce and garlic, while the stock is made of boiled anchovies and kelp. All of the ingredients are readily available in a Spain, save perhaps for the gojuchang.
Memories like these were what made Spain memorable for the actress who became famous in the Philippines after she played opposite to Lee Min-ho in the drama, “The Heirs.” Alhambra is her first drama after two-year hiatus.
“The souvenir I got from Granada was the freedom to be just be myself. I could take in all the sights and the scenery. The weather was beautiful, the colors in Granada are enhanced somehow. It was great for the sight, hearing and touch,” she said.
Shin-hye plays a hostel owner and classic guitarist in “Memories of the Alhambra.” She was all praises for her leading man Hyun-bin.
“We went to the same school so he is my sunbae (senior). We met for the first time in Spain. On weekends, we couldn’t shoot because of local reasons. We got to spend time in weekend. I am the youngest person in this team. I was worried about that. But Hyun-bin made sure that there was nothing to worry about. He made sure we can talk about work over beer,” she said during the press conference for the drama.
This drama is Hyun-bin’s first after three years. He has been mostly making films. He became popular in the Philippines for the drama “My Name is Kim Sam Soon.” He also enjoyed the freedom he had while shooting the drama.
“Granada was very relaxed. Everything was slow-paced. It allowed me to approach this project with thought and more depth. It allowed me to get relaxed and the members of the local staff were amazing. They taught us how to enjoy our life and that was our biggest take away.”
“Memories of the Alhambra” is streaming on Netflix every Saturday and Sunday, one hour after broadcast.