wise words

to live without that enchantment of beauty is to interpret frugality and simple living with a puritan literalism

- john lane

eating with the fullest pleasure - pleasure, that is, that does not depend on ignorance - is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. in this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude, for we are living from mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehend.

- wendell berry

at lunch time prepare a meal for yourself. cook the meal and wash the dishes in mindfulness. in the morning after you have cleaned and straightened up your house, after you have worked in the garden or watched clouds or gathered flowers, prepare a pot of tea to sit and drink in mindfulness. allow yourself a good length of time to do this. don't drink your tea like someone who gulps down a cup of coffee during a workbreak. drink your tea slowly and reverently as if it were the axis on which the earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing towards the future. live the actual moment. for only this actual moment is life.

- thich nhat hanh

Working in the Kitchen

What is it, closer than close?
Not impervious or distant, not
stiff or unresponsive. A get-down-
in-the-mud mind, a root-around-
in-the-weeds mind: Food comes
alive with your presence, reaching
out, laboring, taking the time
for flour, salt, water, yeast
to come together, for a bowl
that breaks, the dirty dishes,
a leaky faucet, always more
to cooking than meets the eye.
Each thing asking to be seen, heard
known, loved, a companion in the dark.
"Take care of the food," it is said,
"as though it was your own eyesight,"
not saying, oh that's all right, we
have plenty, we can throw that away.
Table, teapot, measuring cups, spoons:
the body within the body, the place
where everything connects.
Ripe, succulent fruit, leaves, stems,
roots, seeds: the innermost mind
awakening, fully manifesting. What
are you up to, after all? What is
a way of life that is satisfying,
fulfilling, sustaining and sustainable?
Cups, glasses, sponges, one
body with a hundred faces,
a sticky honey jar, the half-
empty cup of coffee, each asking
to fulfill, each offering the touch
of the beloved.
Enter, plunge into the heart
of the matter: an unknown destination,
an unknown adventure unfolding
with your wits about you and your
not-so-wits. Things emerging in life,
Life emerging in things, no separation.
Concentrating on food, concentrating
on myself, with heart opening, hands offering,
may everything be deliciously full
of warmth and kindness.
Coming from the earth, coming from the air,
a cool breeze, a spark, a flame, go ahead:
cook, offer yourself, hold nothing back.
Cooking is not like you expected, not like
you anticipated. What is happening is unheard
of, never before experienced. You cook. No mistakes.
You might do it differently next time, but
you did it this way this time. Things
are as they are, even if you say too much this
too little that. And if you want things to stay
the same, remind yourself they have no unchanging nature.
"Wherever you go, remember, there you are." OK?
Go ahead. Keep moving. Watch your step.

- The Tassajara Bread Book

Jamie Oliver on food education

the end

Birke Baehr on what's wrong with our food system

wonderful signage of india

Rishikesh one last time!

Carolyn Steel on food in cities

Diwali in Mussepur

dichotomous delhi