Wake up and Cook: Kitchen Buddhism in Words and Recipes [Paperback]

Tricycle Magazine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

The editors of Tricycle, a magazine of Buddhism in America, offer a collection of anecdotes, blessings, meditations, and recipes illustrating the Buddhist philosophy of food, which views cooking as a spiritual endeavor. Original.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Buddha. Gingerbread. Challah. A culinary koan? Zen teachings are often presented as koans--enlighteningly subtle puzzles we associate with imponderables such as "what is the sound of one hand clapping?" Zen cookbooks tend to be vegetarian, Asian, or relentlessly sincere, even austere, in their celebration of mind and spirit. So recipes for cleansing the mind in this serenely elegant softcover volume from the editors of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review won't surprise you. The ones for Free Range Coq au Vin and hearty (Beef) Stew with Dumplings might, however. In keeping with their belief in moderation, i.e., a little of everything creates balance in life, these Zen Buddhists support eating meat.

From Booklist

More than a cookbook, this book explores food and cooking in Buddhist teachings, symbols, metaphors, monastic ritual, and festivals. Well-chosen commentary, meal blessings and prayers, or short excerpts from texts of all Buddhist traditions preface each chapter's recipes. Editor Tonkinson encourages readers to "read them simply as a set of instructions on how to cook a meal or as guidelines on how to cook your life." The loosely themed recipes are not all vegetarian, though Buddhist views on vegetarianism are amply discussed. Some dishes are hearty and plain; others are high in sugar or fat. But who can resist reading a recipe poem by Gary Snyder or "A Recipe for Cleaning the Mind" by an American Zen master, or learning about monastery fare or how to make Tibetan butter tea? All texts and recipes are credited for easy follow-up. A thoughtful cookbook for the ordinary, everyday activity of cooking and eating as an example of the interconnectedness of all life. Penny Spokes

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade; 1st edition (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573225754
• ISBN-13: 978-1573225755
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,374,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Joy of Mindful Cooking, February 16, 2004

By 

Zen Druid (Aloha, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wake up and Cook: Kitchen Buddhism in Words and Recipes (Paperback)

This book is an enjoyable collection of short essays on Buddhism, some related directly to food and some not, and about 60 recipes. The recipes include both vegetarian selections and recipes with meat, and run from the simple ("Laura Carter Holloway Langford's Canned Corn") to the more complex ("Fish Chowder" with prawns, crab & mussels) and to the free-form poetic (Gary Snyder's "How to Make Stew in the Pinacate Desert - Recipe for Locke & Drum"). This book is much like purchasing a fountain for your meditation area, not essential, but often very nice to look at.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking and Enlightenment, December 14, 2002

By 

Patricia R. Andersen "redheaded booklover" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Wake up and Cook: Kitchen Buddhism in Words and Recipes (Paperback)

I know, it doesn't seem as if those two things go together - but even if you have achieved enlightenment, you still got to eat.
There are various chants and prayers to help you bring mindfulness into your meals.
Don't think you have to deprive yourself to follow this path - there are wonderful recipes for such desserts as chocolate mousse as well as rice pudding. There is also "plain" food, such as lentil soup - but this is no ordinary soup. To think about your cooking, to keep those who you cook for in your mind as you prepare the meal as well as a great recipe makes this lentil soup totally different form other lentil soups you may have tried. And the steak fajitas, well, it's not something you expect to find in a Buddhist cookbook.
Try this book for the simple act of becoming re-acquainted with the art of cooking and you'll stick with the book for the wonderful recipes, as well as the various poems, prayers and insights that the book has in ample measure

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not really a buddhist cookbook, November 30, 2009

By 

A. Urie (Salt Lake City , UT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wake up and Cook: Kitchen Buddhism in Words and Recipes (Paperback)

A buddhist cookbook containing recipes containing meat is neither mindful or buddhist, why do us westerners think its ok to call ourselves buddhists as soon as we attend our first yoga classes and put a namaste sticker on our subaru. Buddhist teachings do not say cut back on meat, they say NO meat, this is even sillier than the practice of "Mindful Drinking"