again, cooking for someone who is ill is about nutrition, health, care, sympathy, yes ... all of these things are very important ... but it doesn't make cooking a bloody art or 'alchemy'. you're taking care of someone! no shit it's emotionally charged!
it's like saying, i have a child with a severe nut allergy, preparing meals is a religious experience! i must be careful and attentive!
all that zen cooking shit, from a western perspective, is ironically just the sort of orientalism you complain about. it's irrelevant. westerners who get into that shit do so without any of the actual buddhist beliefs or theology. it's a lifestyle fad, ultimately. they talk a lot of rot about how 'profound' their cooking experiences are, then go back to their secular lives with scant regard for buddhism afterwards. what's the point? buddhist monks have a culinary culture associated with their temples, yes, but they're not there for the food! it'll be something else in 10 years time, cooking outside in your garden in the manner of the mongolian peoples of the steppe or something. churning your own butter and cheese to 'feel close to our nomadic roots'.
i am not going to listen to some guy tell me that cooking is a high art form that gives him profound experiences when he doesn't read, doesn't go to galleries, has no interest in art, in fact. this tendency of over-hyping food and restaurant culture is just self-serving narcissicism from people who want to dress-up their humdrum, normie activities. 'oh, yeah, i'm a really artistic person, i eat out at michelin-starred restaurants a lot'. please.
Last edited by uziq (2020-07-08 06:54:06)
