Gabriela "Gabie" Kook (born 1988) is a Korean YouTuber with an international audience. Her YouTube channel covers an array of topics, but is mostly focused on food and cooking. Kook graduated from

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (French for " The Blue Ribbon") is an international network of hospitality and culinary schools teaching French ''haute cuisine''. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The instituti ...

, a culinary education facility in Paris. She became well-known in 2014 when she became a runner-up on a Korean reality TV show '' MasterChef Korea''. In November 2021, she, Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal opened a specialist "Korean Toast" restaurant in London. On 27 June 2023, Kook published her first cookbook: ''One Pan Recipe'', initially only published in Korean as she is trying to find an English-speaking publisher.

Personal life

Kook was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived in Spain until she was 12-years-old. Following that, she studied in the United States and France. Although Kook was born abroad, her parents are South Korean nationals, and she has described herself as a " third culture kid". Kook is the wife of Josh Carrott (known on YouTube as "

Korean Englishman Korean Englishman (영국남자) is a YouTube channel created by internet personality duo Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal. It features videos in Korean and English centering around South Korean culture and food. Cast Joshua Carrott Joshua Carrott ...

"). The couple married in 2016. In 2020, Kook was diagnosed with

endometriosis Endometriosis is a disease of the female reproductive system in which cells similar to those in the endometrium, the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus, grow outside the uterus. Most often this is on the ovaries, f ...

. In 2020, Kook also said she experienced anti-East Asian racism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Controversy

In May of 2021, most of her videos were temporarily removed or set to private when a video, showing her allegedly flouting South Korea's COVID-19 quarantine regulations in October 2020, led to backlash (including threats of prosecution). A video apologising for the incident was uploaded on 20 April 2021. In October 2020, Carrott and Kook came under scrutiny due to their alleged violation of South Korea's COVID-19 quarantine regulations. Kook went to Korea from London, United Kingdom for

treatment, and was required to quarantine for two weeks. However, a video was uploaded to social media of her and friends celebrating her birthday by welcoming friends at their door while they were supposed to be in isolation, and receiving birthday gifts. In one shot, Kook is shown removing her

face mask The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human Personal identity, identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental d ...

to blow out candles on a birthday cake and apply lipstick, albeit in a

socially distanced In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

manner. Kook has also faced controversy over her eligibility for national health insurance in South Korea. In her apology video, Kook confirmed that she was mistaken in believing she was paying for national health insurance in South Korea. Some netizens, however, claim she was trying to game the system and that she knew it was in fact the

National Pension The Japanese national pension is a pension system that all registered residents of Japan, both Japanese and foreign, are required to enroll in. Since January 1, 2010 it has been managed by the Japan Pension Service. History In 1942 the Workers P ...

, not the national health insurance in South Korea, that she had paid. She later underwent endometriosis treatment in the UK. Both Carrott and Kook posted public apologies after the incident, though both apologies were criticised for being inadequate. The alleged violation has since been investigated by Korean police who found sufficient evidence to send the case to prosecution in December 2020. Kook was accused of violating the Infectious Disease Prevention Act at the end of January; however, on April 14, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office suspended the indictment against her as the prosecution decided not to file an indictment and dropped the case against Kook.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kook, Gabie Living people 1988 births Argentine YouTubers South Korean YouTubers Argentine people of South Korean descent Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu