Slow Food, Asian Style

By Amadea Morningstar

"Recognizing that the enjoyment of wholesome food is essential to the pursuit of happiness, Slow Food USA is an educational organization dedicated to stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production..." The slow food movement seeks to revive the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community. It wishes to see the invigoration and proliferation of regional seasonal cooking traditions, and to encourage all who are interested to live a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life (www.slowfoodUSA.org)

So what does this have to do with yoga, and its sister science Ayurveda? A lot.

How many of us would like to see the joy, satisfaction, and peace we experience in our yoga classes translate more broadly to the rest of our lives? This peace and satisfaction can spread out like ripples from the center of our practice, to how we live. Slow food is one way to do just that: taking time to sit down (at the table, rather than the driver's seat), relax, take a few deep breaths, and enjoy a meal straight from nature. The slow food movement, in counterpoint to fast food, popularizes food that is fresh, local, seasonal, "home-cooked", made with care.

While the slow food movement originated in Turin, Italy, it is now embraced by many of the most talented chefs in the US. Yet it is still relatively unknown to most average Americans. Many of us have gotten to the place where life demands and the mass media have convinced us that we have no time for food, that it is better to live on Cliff bars, Mars bars, and the latest protein shake, preferably prepackaged. For some of us, this is most of what we eat. The toll we pay for this is a growing disconnect: increasing obsessions, depression, anxiety, and loss of satisfaction. Our bodies and psyches yearn for deeper connections with nature, and they instinctively know that one way of getting this connection is through food.

Yet much of the food we eat is a cheap fix, manufactured in labs (a la soy protein isolate) rather than in the soil and water of Mother Nature. (Let me interject here, before we get trapped in a morass of "good" and "bad" and judgments about what we are or are not eating, that ultimately all food comes from the divine and that whatever we eat on some level nourishes us. The point is, is what we're eating nourishing us on the levels we need?)

The ancient healing science of Ayurveda from India has been advocating slow food for some five thousand years, for its beneficial effects on both mind and body. These are viewed as interconnected in Ayurveda. A simplistic example comes from the gut. Indigestion can disturb the mind as well as the body. Likewise, an upset mind can aggravate what might otherwise be smooth digestion. Slowing down and eating fresh, easy-to-digest food can improve a myriad of physical conditions, and provide a measure of satisfaction deep in one's psyche.

How to do this? It can be as simple as stopping at the Farmers' Market, picking up an enticing vegetable, fruit, or fresh herb, and carrying it home with you to fix. Or stirring a teaspoon of miso paste into a hot cup of water for soup when you are hungry. Or cooking one scrumptious soup recipe for yourself or friends. Or giving yourself a regular time a couple of hours a week, to play with food in a leisurely way.

In brief, the food of Ayurveda is a way to reconnect ourselves with nature through the elements. The five great elements (Pancha Mahabhutani) - earth (prithvi), water (jala), fire (agni), air (vayu), and space (akash) - are the building blocks from which all in the material world arises, including us. A looming skyscraper, a traffic cop, a redwood forest, all come from the five elements. And the biological energies known as the doshas: vata (air-ether), pitta (fire-water), and kapha (water-earth) are also made from them and regulate our physiological and mental functions. Through the senses, in this case taste, we embrace the elements and nourish the doshas inside. We can bring the doshas into balance, or drive them out of balance, with taste and texture in the food we eat.

Cravings are an interesting example of this dance of the elements. When we are out of balance, we tend to crave that which will push us even further out of balance: fiery Pittas seeking salsa, dry Vatas munching crackers, dense Kaphas going for bread and butter. Yet as we come more and more into balance, we begin to yearn for the foods that will create even more equilibrium. This might show up as a desire for dark leafy greens (bitter taste) in the formerly liverish Pitta. Or creamy naturally sweetened rice pudding (moisturizing) in the ex-spaced out Vata. Or crisp rye toast (drying) in the lightening Kapha individual. (This is a very preliminary look at cravings. Our wild binges can serve us in their own peculiar fashion.)

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TASTES

There are six tastes with which we play in Ayurveda: sweet (madhura), sour (amla), salty (lavana), pungent (katu), bitter (tikta), and astringent (kashaya). Eating all of these in a meal promotes balance inside. In Ayurveda, opposites are often used for healing. Each of the tastes arise from two elements (see chart below). So for example, sweet taste originates from earth and water, giving it a cool, moistening, grounding effect. Modest amounts help us feel grounded and secure; large amounts put on weight. It depends on what we are after, how much of each taste we enjoy. Sweet taste need not be as blatant as sugar, although forms of sugar are used in Ayurvedic medicines for healing. Rice, milk, or sweet potatoes are all considered sweet, thereby being calming and cooling to Pitta and soothing and grounding to Vata. An excess of sweet taste will increase Kapha, that is, throw it off balance. This out of balance effect could show up as lethargy, excess mucus, or weight. Kapha (earth-water) has generous amounts of natural sweet taste inside already (the trick is how to discover your own hidden treasures....)

There's a lot to potentially play with here. For one example: salty taste. It comes from jala (water) and agni (fire), making it moistening and warming. It tends to attract more fluid, as well as toxins. When we want to cleanse ourselves of old stored toxins - or shed some water weight - we start to cut back on salt on the inside (by reducing how much salt we use in our food) and increase salt on the outside (by soaking ourselves in a nice, long, slow, sea salt/baking soda or Epsom salt bath. You can use anywhere from a cup to a pound of each salt per bath). This pulls toxins out through our skin and into the salty water. If you exercise, then shower afterward with a salt glow rub (one tablespoon salt plus one tablespoon baking soda in a warm wet washcloth, rubbing gently all over the skin, followed with a cool rinse) this can have similar detoxifying effects as the baths. Experimenting with cooking with Celtic salt, naturally harvested and mineral rich, rather than sea salt or iodized salt, can give other windows in to salt's actions. Or try sulfurous Indian black salt, available in Indian groceries. It enhances digestion without holding on to much fluid in the body, the way most salt does. (Granted, it is an acquired taste.)

If you want to really slow down, you might consider growing a pot of healing Ayurvedic herbs in your house or apartment. Tulsi basil, the sacred basil of India, is remarkably easy to grow. You can start it from seed any time from January to June, or often now it can be found in nurseries as small starter plants in the herb section from late spring onward. Tulsi brightens the spirit, lifts the heart, and aids digestion. Another popular Ayurvedic herb that can be grown inside at home is gotu kola, the brain - mind- memory - and thyroid enhancer. Kept warm and moist, it can thrive in a south window for many seasons, putting out runners to gift forgetful plant-loving friends. You can harvest a few leaves from either of these to boost the healing potential of your meals. A "Bright Heart, Bright Mind Fresh Spring Roll" recipe follows (go to page 46), if you want to indulge in slow food, Asian style, hands on. Whether we let ourselves slow down and savor life is up to us. Slow food awaits us, from India, Thailand, China, or in our grandma's favorite dish. Bon appetit!

 

Bright Heart, Bright Mind Fresh Spring Rolls

Good for all seasons, tridoshic, sattvic, makes 8 rolls. Takes 30-60 minutes to prepare, depending on how leisurely you want to be.

Wash well: 2 heads baby bok choi, or 8 largish leaves
of lettuce or tender Chinese cabbage, set aside (do not cook)

Wash: 1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chop well
1 bunch fresh spinach
1 1/2 cups bean sprouts or Chinese cabbage

Peel and grate: 1 1/2 Tbsps. fresh ginger root

In a heavy iron skillet or stainless steel wok, heat:
1/3 cup water
2 Tbsps. Bragg's liquid aminos and the ginger

When hot, add: 1 (1 lb) block of tofu,
cut in 1/2" cubes
Simmer covered for 5 - 10 minutes, add the vegetables and cook covered until tender and bright green, just a few minutes.

Stir in: 1 Tbsp. fresh gotu kola leaves, finely chopped (optional)
1 Tbsp. fresh Tulsi basil leaves and flowers, finely chopped (optl)
1/2" fresh jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)

Combine in a separate bowl:
1 Tbsp. miso, yellow, white, or barley
1 Tbsp. raw honey
enough water to create a sauce
(about 1/2 cup), set aside

In a medium pot bring to a boil: one quart water

Cook: 1/3 of an 8 oz. package rice sticks three minutes, drain, set aside.

While the stir fry is being prepared, bring to a boil:
2 - 3 quarts pure water

Get out: 16 spring roll wrappers
(available in Asian groceries, made of rice paper or tapioca)
a clean plate or cutting board
a cake pan (at least 12 - 14" wide)

When the tofu veggie stir fry is done, take off the
heat, and stir in the honey miso sauce.

Pour the hot water into the cake pan, and one by one, soak each spring roll wrapper until soft (a minute or less). Put the softened wrapper on your plate or cutting board, place one bok choi leaf in the middle, with a slotted spoon place 1 spoonful stir fry mixture on top of the leaf, then one spoonful rice threads. Fold both ends in, then roll. While you are doing this, soak another wrapper: you will be using two wrappers per roll.

Set the second softened wrapper onto your work surface, place the wrapped roll in the middle with the seam side down, and wrap again, for greater strength. Put the completed rolls on a pretty plate.

Spring rolls are best eaten fresh the same day. You can store them in the refrigerator, with a damp cloth over them and a layer of Saran Wrap over that, for up to 4 hours before eating.

 

Serve fresh spring rolls with:

 

Almond Sauce
(warming) (@ Amadea Morningstar, 2002)
Calms Vata, in moderation fine for all doshas.

Combine: 1/2 cup raw almond butter
1/4 cup Braggs liquid aminos
( or you can substitute some water, for less salty taste)
1 Tbsp. raw honey
1/8 tsp. wasabi powder (optional)
additional water as needed to get thin enough sauce

and/or:

 

Fresh Coriander Chutney
(cooling) (from Mataji Desai, The Ayurvedic Cookbook, Morningstar & Desai) Calms Pitta and Kapha, in moderation fine for all doshas.

Blend together in a blender:
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped finely
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated unsweetened coconut
2 Tbsps. fresh grated ginger root
1 tsp. barley malt or honey.

 

 

Resources:

Culinary herbs: www.banyantrading.com
www.bazaarofindia.com

Herbs to grow: www.Richters.com
www.nicholsgardennursery.com

Cookbooks with which to play:
Lad, Dr. Vasant and Usha, Ayurvedic Cooking for
Self-Healing

Morningstar, Amadea, The Ayurvedic Cookbook
(with Urmila Desai) and Ayurvedic Cooking for
Westerners

Amadea Morningstar, MA, RPP, lives and practices
in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

TASTE

Sweet

Sour

Salty

Pungent

Bitter

Astringent

ELEMENTS

Earth - Water

Earth - Fire

Water - Fire

Fire - Air

Air - Ether

Air - Earth

QUALITIES

Building, moist, heavy, cool

Building, warm, heavy, enhances digestion

Building, attracts fluids & toxins, warm, heavy, moist

Cleansing, increases digestive fire, hot, light, dry

Cleansing, tonifies digestion, aids liver, cool,
light, dry

Cleansing, esp. to the blood, cool, light, dry

CALMS

Vata and Pitta

Vata

Vata

Kapha

Pitta and Kapha

Pitta and Kapha

EXAMPLES WITH WHICH TO PLAY:

Delicata squash, basmati rice, homemade applesauce

Fresh lemon, hibiscus, or umeboshi plum

Celtic salt, Indian black salt, seaweeds, sushi

Fresh ginger root, basil, arugula, watercress

Endive, radicchio, dandelion, dark leafy greens

Persimmons, turmeric, legumes