Tuesday, May 31, 2011

cooking for 100 on a four burner stove

i don't think it's an overstatement that i have been cooking in heavens for two days. here's what happens. i am involved in making lunches for one hundred plus people two days in a row. the lunch comes right after a fire ritual that is conducted by an esteemed brahmin priest in a sprawling garden. how can i do justice to the brahmin's chanting? according to the chinese way i would say the resonance soars to the immortals land and wrap around the jade emperor's palatial columns for three days. one day in immortals land transpires to a thousand years where i live.

back to cooking. i am part of this great team of yogis that has only one goal in mind. provide chai during pauses and feed everyone. all done on a four burner stove in a basement apartment. the devotion and dedication that are poured into the dal are beyond measure. for instance. at one point i realize i make an error in judgment during chopping the previous day. i put chopped broccoli stalk and asparagus stems in one bag. now i realize they take different times to cook. shall we let them go mushy or undercooked? neither. a yogi steps up to the challenge. i'll separate them. just like that. he rolls up his sleeves, and o yes he's in a suit, and sits down at the table in the living room area and works at it. he doesn't make a fuss over it. he does it with a quiet focus and calm manner. i show him a sample of each. he examines it and says lightheartedly, i see.

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