Zen and the Art of Meaningful Cooking

Netflix has recently opened up a whole new world of culinary entertainment to me. When I can’t find something on the Food Network or the Travel Channel, I check my Instant queue for food documentaries. Last night I watched How to Cook Your Life, a documentary that follows Zen priest Edward Espe Brown as he teaches people how to cook. Brown is famous for co-founding vegetarian mecca Greens Restaurant in San Francisco. Greens gets the majority of its food from the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County. I’d like to check it out once before I leave the Bay Area, but for now I’ll stick to the Vegetarian House in San Jose.

The Veg House is rumored to be operated by a cult-so it has added mystique. When you walk into the lobby, the master is speaking on a TV. It’s one of those Seinfeld situations where you’re a little offended that they don’t try to recruit you-they just feed you delicious and healthy food. Who do they think they are? After a little research, I wouldn't call it a cult, just an off-shoot of Buddhism. The Veg House is owned by Supreme Grand Master Ching Hai who is...eccentric. She is described as "Part Buddha, Part Madonna" by Rafer Guzman. If you want to read more about her, Wiki Ching Hai.

Anyway, back to the documentary. I have to admit, I was pretty cynical about this one. It wasn't the Buddhist practices that were off-putting, it was Edward Espe Brown. For a Zen priest, he gets awfully cranky. If he is a Zen priest, then I am Siddhartha. This guy started dropping f-bombs because a bottle of olive oil came with a control pourer on top.




He also repeatedly stabbed a block of cheese because he couldn’t get it open. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that the film was edited to show his impatience or maybe he was nervous about the cameras. He does admit that because he is human, of course he gets annoyed. Well, I get annoyed too. I didn’t really learn anything new from him, it was all pretty obvious stuff. He also has one of those laughs where it sounds like he’s crying…and he pronounces acupuncture like “acoopuncture” and Yang like “yahng.” I’m sure that’s correct, I was just already annoyed by the time he started pronouncin’ thangs all un-American-like.

There were some redeeming qualities to the film. The main point was to slow down and be present while you’re cooking (and doing everything else for that matter.) I think he summarizes it simply with a Buddhist teaching that says, “When you stir the soup, stir the soup.” One of the practices in the Buddhist kitchen was to cook in relative silence so that you are thinking about what you are doing. I think this is actually a good idea. I don’t even like to listen to music while I’m cooking. The scar on my left palm is also a good reminder to pay attention while cooking. Brown says something about how the knife will always find you--Amen, brother.

For me, the more interesting person in the film was a woman who hasn’t bought groceries in two years. She gets all of her food for free by searching through what supermarkets have thrown out and by collecting fruits from her neighborhood’s bushes and trees. The only food this woman had bought in two years was something called Dr. Bob’s Ice Cream-now that is a good endorsement! I checked out the Dr. Bob’s website and it does sound like the ice cream would be like a party in my mouth delicious. Dr. Bob operates out of southern California and uses only high quality ingredients. You can’t get Dr. Bob’s in very many places, but they do sell it in San Francisco so I will make it a point to try some. Basically, How to Cook Your Life convinced me that I need to try some Dr. Bob’s Ice Cream. I’m sure that was the point of the film.