World view: Diving for sea urchins on Jeju Island, South Korea

‘Visiting Jeju Island, South Korea, with the legendary Haenyeo divers while shooting for our new book was the most inspiring experience,’ says Corey Lee, chef-patron at San Francisco’s three-Michelin-starred Benu restaurant. ‘These ladies, mostly in their 60s or 70s, free dive in rough, cold water for six or eight hours at a time collecting seafood to support their families. It’s incredibly hard work and there is a melancholy in their demeanour. They also showed me how to prepare a traditional Jeju soup of conch and radish thickened with buckwheat. It recalibrated my idea of what makes a food experience memorable and beautiful.’