Meera Atkinson
Zen cooking positions itself as a spiritual practice. It stems from Zen Buddhism and is adhered to as a spiritual discipline.
Food trends come and go—one minute starch is evil, the next cooking itself is called into question by raw foodists. Clearly then beliefs and practices around food shift with popular opinion and agendas.
Like macrobiotics, Zen cooking favours organic, locally grown and whole foods and concerns itself with the balance of 'yin' and 'yang'. One factor that the two practices apart is that meat and fish are less likely to be included in a Zen diet because of the Buddhist tendency to adhere to vegetarianism on compassionate grounds. The main distinction between the two, however, is that while macrobiotics is more of a lifestyle choice, Zen cooking positions itself as a spiritual practice. It stems from Zen Buddhism and is adhered to as a spiritual discipline.
The basics are as follows. Zen cooking is a way of eating rather than a specific or set diet. Using whole and organic produce it views food in terms of energy rather than calories or food pyramid proportions. Seasonal and locally grown foods are important in Zen cooking.
It gets even more specific: water should come from the immediate environment, fruit from the same region or state and vegetables from a similar geographical area, such as a neighbouring state. Grains and beans can come from a more extended area but must hail from a similar climate. Seaweeds come from the same climatic belt and salt must come from the same hemisphere.
There is also a focus on the yin and the yang of foods and its seasonal 'elements'. Yin and yang is an Asian concept that thinks of energy in terms of masculine and feminine. In Zen cooking the idea of yin and yang is related to seasons and to specific foods in the belief that careful use of these energies aids physical, emotional and spiritual harmony.
Roughly speaking foods that are soft, cold, damp, light and acidic are considered to contain yin, female energy. Foods that are hard, warm, heavy and alkaline are consider yang, male energy. For example, sugar, chocolate and spices are extremely yin; fruit, vegetables, dairy foods and tofu are yin; salt and cured meats are extremely yang; with fish, meat, eggs and salty cheeses also yang. Grains, beans and root vegetables are said to be in between the two.
Cooking styles are also viewed as yin and yang. Raw or lighter cooking styles, such as blanching, steaming, poaching, boiling or sautéing are yin, and will be prepared in a yin fashion such as being diced, thinly sliced, shredded or grated.
Yang preparation typically involves more time and heat by way of longer boiling, slow marination, stewing, grilling, broiling, baking, pressure cooking or deep frying. Such meals will usually be prepared in big chunks and thick slices.
But there’s more to it than the size of a piece of carrot and the time in which its boiled. Zen cooking is, above all, about mindfulness, which is itself a key Buddhist idea.
Japanese Zen monks reportedly follow strict rules when it comes to both cooking and eating. They do not speak while eating, do not leave food, don’t look at other people’s food and hold their bowls with both hands. Waste is kept to a minimum.
Particular attention to creativity, kindness and thoughtfulness are characteristic of Zen cooking, giving it a more meaningful edge and setting it apart from mere food fashions and lifestyles.
“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease,” the Buddha reportedly said. With Zen cooking, Buddha’s disciples aim for harmony and enlightenment for themselves and the world around them.
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