Everything in life is an opportunity to practice devotion. When we remember that everything we do from the way we worship to the way we eat has the potential to be an act of devotion, then we have the potential to practice living a life of devotion. Recently, I found an exercise about eating one raisin which reminded me to think about all that I eat and drink in the same way. How differently would I eat and drink if I went through a process of honoring and appreciating every little thing about that which sustains me. So this morning, I thought I would share this devotional approach to eating with you. I encourage each of us to do this with at least one food item each day. It doesn’t have to be a raisin, but we could begin there. This morning, I am going to start with broccoli as it is what I am having for breakfast.
Read moreWhat is your signature dish?
What is your signature dish? That is the question Bobby Flay asks each contestant who has come to challenge him to a throwdown. The question really inspired me this morning. A signature dish is a recipe that is like a chef’s fingerprints. It becomes one of those dishes that one could eat in a blind test taste and know who cooked the meal. I have seen it compared to how an artist has his or her own unique style or a writer who has his or her own voice. The dish itself does not need to be unique, but the manner in which it is prepared is. Whatever the dish is, most chefs talk about how they have been working on perfecting their signature dish for years, sometimes decades.
In an issue of Food & Wine magazine, they identified the signature dishes of 10 world-renowned chefs. Wolfgang Puck’s was Pork Schnitzel, Thomas Keller’s was Smoked Salmon Crisps, Daniel Boulud's was Chilled Spring Pea Soup, Mario Batali's was Bucatini all'Amatriciana, Rick Bayless's was Carne Asada with Black Beans, José Andrés's was Paella with Shrimp and Squid, Gale Gand's was Lemon Meringue Pie , John Besh's was August Chopped Salad, Tom Colicchio's was Braised Short Ribs, and Nobu Matsuhisa's was Black Cod with Miso.[1] Each of these chefs had spent years devoted to perfecting this one dish.
Read moreIt is all about the devotion
The last few days I have been thinking about how many times I have heard or read stories about how people have devoted their lives to perfecting their craft. In reading the stories of now renowned chefs, I have heard their reflections on how those who mentored them would have them devote blocks of time to preparing a single vegetable. For example, months spend learning how to properly clean an artichoke. People who are renowned for what they do in life, are so because they have devoted their life to perfecting their craft. In the process of trying to find some examples to share about the importance of devotion to the process of cooking, and in reality anything in our lives, I came upon this article about Jiro Ono. This story about him and his devotion is inspiring and carries valuable lessons for each of us, encouraging each of us to become devoted to being the best we can be with the talents we have been given, regardless of what we do.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary on the life and craft of the great 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono who owns a tiny 10-seat shop in Tokyo that has the highest Michelin Guide rating of three stars.
To get a seat you must make a reservation months in advance. The courses are carefully planned and the creation and serving of the meal is a multi-course symphony of sushi that some guests have even described as “stressful” yet an experience like no other. Jiro himself serves each course to his guests and carefully examines their faces as they taste his elegant works of edible art. What follows is the wisdom distilled from the great sushi chef on how to master your craft.
1. Learn from the best. Sometimes you must learn to fail before you learn to succeed.
Yamamoto, a renowned Japanese food writer, says: “When you work for Jiro, he teaches you for free. But, you have to endure ten years of training. If you persevere for ten years you will acquire the skills to be recognized as a first-rate chef.”
In Jiro’s restaurant, many apprentices do not make it to the next level. Yet there are those who persevere. For example, one of the apprentice sushi chefs tried over 400 times to make egg sushi that met Jiro’s standards of being worthy to be served. When he finally received Jiro’s approval, he was overwhelmed with joy and cried.
Take away lesson: Only when you understand what it feels like to fail and try again will you be able to cherish the moment when you achieve success.
Read moreCohesive Connections
One of the comments I hear from the judges on Chopped most often is that individually, the components on a dish taste good, but it was not a cohesive dish. The various ingredients did not come together a unified whole. I feel that way a lot. My wife, for example, likes simplistic meals, like a “fried” chicken breast, a baked potato, and a salad. She is thrilled, but for me that is not a cohesive dish because there is nothing that weaves it together.
When I was pastoring, it was important for the service to be cohesive. Everything from the artwork on the front of the bulletin, to the music, the scripture, and the sermon needed to weave together so that everything worked together and wove together in a seamless manner. Doing so required time to plan my way through the process.
Read moreJust Come
It is nice to finally be healed enough from my most recent surgery that I have the energy to cook and entertain again. Whoo hoo! Just having the energy to cook again and create healthy low fat, low carb meals for my wife and I is such a blessing. Last night, I was chatting with a friend who was having one of those days where she just needed to know she was loved. I suggested she come join us for a very simplistic dinner. It was a chicken stir-fry with brown rice for her and Zoe. She wanted to know what she could bring and I said just come. It was those last two words – just come, that really spoke to her heart and soul.
Read moreCompassion and World Farming
Years ago, I remember a Wendy’s commercial with these three older women looking at a burger and saying, “where’s the beef?” Today the question is not where the beef is, but where does it comes from?. I have been thinking a lot about compassion the last few weeks. One of the questions I have been grappling with is when are the times I have not been able to be as compassionate as I would like. It started when I began to make a list of “missed opportunities” to show compassion to others. I realized that one of my behaviors was the choices I was making about what food I purchased. In my head, I agree with the farm to table mentality and want to buy nothing but organic and grass fed, farm raised protein products. I have watched and shown my students too many videos on the factory farm and the inhumane treatment of animals.
Read moreA Compassionate Food Story
I wanted to do something a little different this week. The theme for this month is Compassion and so I thought I would start by talking about how people have used food to express compassion. In the process of doing my research, I stumbled upon this story about one of my favorite chefs, Ming Tsai. May this story inspire each of us to share a meal with someone we know who is struggling.
In 2010, Shauna McLaughlin faced a mother's worst nightmare. Her then 19-month-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. As a single parent, Ms. McLaughlin was solely responsible for her daughter's medical, emotional, and financial care. Ms McLaughlin recalls, "I left my job to take care of her because she needed me around the clock. I couldn't leave her alone at the hospital. She was critically ill, and at times on life support."
Read moreContributing to the Gross National Happiness
For the last few years I have been reflecting on the various things I have learned in and through the kitchen. With the health challenges I have been through in the last few months, I have made significant changes in how I think about food, plan menus, shop for ingredients, and cook. I also realized that I had some kitchen equipment, which needed to be replaced and that there were things I needed that we did not have. A series of events in my life and the lives of people I know led Zoe and I to buying a few new things for our kitchen from Pampered Chef. It is funny because Zoe, who never cooks, loves Pampered Chef products. I have always found it humorous that she who hates to cook, loves going to Pampered Chef parties.
Read moreIt is time to soar!
Every morning, as many of you, know I post my thought for the day. However, I also have a few places that send me inspirational messages as well. This morning, my message from God was “you are only as free as you imagine yourself to be. There is nothing "out there" that's holding you down, - you are limiting yourself only with your own imagination. And your greatest limits are not even the "cannot" and the "should not", but the places where your imagination hasn't yet gone at all. There has never been a better time for you to open your eyes, let the imagination soar and see what more is possible.”
Read moreIt’s more than just a kitchen table
For those who were expecting me to say that this week’s blog was inspired by my addiction to Chopped, I have to partially disappoint you. It was not my original source of inspiration. It was actually inspired by the reflection and meditation I have been doing the last few weeks about being present. Last week, I talked about being present while cooking, not just being present with the process, but with the ingredients and taking the time to let them speak to me through all my senses.
Last night, as I was finishing my blog on The Gift of Presence for my Inspiritual Reflection I realized this was why gathering around the kitchen table to share a meal is so important. It is not just a time to eat together. It is a time to be present with each other
Read moreBeing Present
I always love it when my friends call me and tell me they found someone who thinks the same way I do about food and cooking. Recently, this came about in a video someone shared with me about how to cut an onion. What Cynthia Lair, the speaker in this video, discussed was not so much about how to cut an onion, although she physically demonstrates that as well. What she talked about was the importance of being present when you are cooking. Given that this is our theme for this month, I knew I had to write about this.
Read moreCooking is like Meditation
Over the last few months, I have had to make major changes in the way I eat and therefore the way I cook. Initially, I felt a little overwhelmed at the growing list of foods that I could no longer eat and for the first time in my life, cooking seemed stressful. It was then that I had to return to my basics and go back to some of the basic lessons that I had learned across my lifetime. One being that cooking is like meditation. When I stop, relax, and focus on being at one in the moment and with the ingredients, my creativity would kick in and the answers to what and how to prepare would flow like a river.
Read moreDo You
It has been a while since I posted here, while I have been resting, healing, and preparing for the next round of surgery. However, I was reminded of something last night that resonated with my soul and that is in all things to do you. I was watching a special episode of Chopped (no surprise to those who read this blog often) and Katie Lee, one of the competitors, was surprised that she won. In reflecting on it, she talked about how she thought she had won because she had stayed true to who she was. Katie is best known for her comfort foods and that is what she cooked all three courses, foods filled with memories of growing up and cooking with her grandmother and mother. She gave the judges her on a plate.
Read moreWhile I heal
As many of you may know by now, I had a medically life threatening situation on November 1, 2014. I went through emergency surgery to save my life and will be going through 3 more surgeries over the next two months. While I recover, I will be cutting back on a lot of things in my life, including blogging. As I have energy and feel inspired, I will post here. However, in the meantime, please keep my family and I in prayer as we go through an intense healing process. Thank you!
Embracing the Challenge
Sometimes it does not take much to make someone feel loved. However, in my mind everyone is worthy of experiencing the unconditional love of others. A friend of mine has avoided coming over for dinner several times. Her excuse has been that she is a picky eater. The truth is that she is on a restrictive diet to help her live without severe migraine headaches. The other day, I asked her to send me a list of all the things she cannot eat. I asked her if she would consider coming over for dinner if I made a meal that honored her dietary needs.
Read moreThe __________ I will never forget
Those who know me will understand that perhaps my least favorite show on the Food Network is Cutthroat Kitchen. That said, the fifth agreement in Toltec wisdom reminds me that lessons can be hidden in places that we might overlook if we did not listen with a maybe. So, I decided to watch the show last week because it was the first of a five-week series with “superstar” chefs competing for charity. The last two chefs standing were Michael Psilakis and Aartie Sequiera. The dish they were required to make was French toast. French toast is one of those iconic breakfast dishes. While there are a few variations in terms of bread used and whether they are stuffed or not, there are some things you expect to experience and taste when you eat this, regardless of the day or time.
Read moreThe path to enlightenment
As many of you know, the show Chopped on the Food Network never ceases to be a source of inspiration for this blog. Last night was no different, albeit for different reasons. The cheftestants were not those who work as restaurant chefs, private chefs, or even culinary instructors. They were those who worked in non-profit organizations preparing food for those we so often call “the least of thee.” One cooked for the Fresh Air Fund and others cooked for various homeless shelters. It was the story of one of the cheftestants who talked about going from being homeless to being able to cook at the shelter that moved me. It reminded me of a time in my own life when I had almost become homeless. His story also moved me because of how they served their clients in the homeless shelter. Their dining facility did not have line that people went through, but was set up like a restaurant with menus and a volunteer staff that served as wait staff.
Read moreAll are worthy
Somebody recently asked me why I continue to write in this blog? How many different connections can one possibly make between food and spirituality? I just smiled and said the connections are endless. They challenged me to make a connection between food addictions and spirituality. As I have a few (olives, pot stickers, sashimi, anything spicy, and seafood), I found this interesting. Just about everyone I know has a food they crave. Recently I saw an article that talked about how fast foods activate similar parts of the brain as drugs. I can say, at least for me, that my addiction to my foods of choice is not about the food. It is about me. There are things about those foods in which I find comfort and a kind of satisfaction that I do not get from other foods, especially at certain times in the semester (grading frenzy), or around the holidays. When somebody offers me the opportunity to eat any one of the three things listed above, my mouth begins to salivate. Even writing about them, I find myself thinking about Guy Fieri when he talks about how the jets in his mouth are turning on while he watches one of the guests on his show cook one of their signature dishes.
Read moreEgg Roll Education
Several months ago, I wrote about the basic black dress in cooking. The notion came from a makeover show, which Tim Gunn was co-hosting at the time. He would often say every woman should have a basic black dress in her wardrobe. He talked about how you start with the basic black dress and then accessorize it to make it personal. Thus far, I have applied this to vegetable stock, grilled cheese sandwiches, and cheeseburgers. Last night, I was craving some comfort food and for me that was egg rolls.
I love egg rolls and have eaten them most of my life. In fact, while I was writing my doctoral comprehensive exams, I think we bought the local restaurant out of egg rolls I ate so many. Egg rolls are one of the few foods that taste good to me when I am going through a stressful time. So egg rolls are what I requested when our housemate was elected to go to Wegman’s and get each of us something “deserty” or “comforting.” What he brought me were egg rolls, but nothing like what I have ever had before.
Read moreWhere is your focus?
As many of you know, I am a Food Network junkie and have no plans to join a 12 step group to kick my addiction. A friend of mine and I were discussing some of our favorite and least favorite shows, especially the competition ones. What we realized is that there is one ingredient, which we have seen several cheftestants use, which regardless of the show seems to get them eliminated and losing. This ingredient is the opposite of an ingredient I discussed a few weeks ago in my blog on humility.
This ingredient is cockiness. Ironically, it is those who you hear complain about the quality of the ingredients and how they are beneath them or who, like on Beat Bobby Flay, are overly cocky about their ability to beat him that they are not able to execute properly the very dish they have spent years perfecting. This tendency to focus on the prize and not the process is one that has been discussed for years. It applies to everything from cooking to learning to competitive sports. It is a lesson that I always associate with a poem called The Archer by Lao Tsu.
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