Welcome to our new blog from the kitchen of Harnham Buddhist Monastery, otherwise know as Aruna Ratanagiri. It was the abbot, Ajahn Munindo’s idea. And when it was first mentioned it set me thinking, remembering something I’d read in a novel of Peter Hoeg’s. He reckoned no matter how grand the house or how attractive the other rooms, people always gravitated to the kitchen; the hub; the place where people live out their lives in the domestic situation. I thought about this in the context of the monastery. And actually, it more or less holds true here at Harnham. Yes, yes, I know that the senior monks diligently stay away; and the Dhamma Hall is the heart of the community, but the truth is - no kitchen, no food, no monastery. Ask Maslow.
Or come and see for yourself. See where people brew tea before puja; meet for chores; greet each other; gather for breakfast; discuss the day’s work; meet in the evening; first go when they arrive at the monastery; share, work and talk when preparing food. It’s the kitchen. The place where the formal midday meal is usually offered – a link where the monastic and lay communities meet in a very human way.
Which is what this blog is about. Generating a link. It’s not an official monastery press release. It’s the blog from me, Jim, the kitchen manager. An interesting word I think, blog. Like a blend of “blag” and “plod” that might well describe the credentials of its author. Not necessarily representative, therefore, of the community’s or the abbot’s views. Just "A view from". Those of you who’ve been here will know that the actual view from our kitchen is obscure and unspectacular. That it looks through two sets of windows - which are not cleaned as regularly as they could be - past neglected shrubs and clumps of sycamore trees. You look out whilst chopping parsnips, to see the fine morning weather beyond. Dear reader, please take that as the metaphor, whilst I try my best to approximate to a true rendering of kitchen events and needs. Hopefully I'll have more luck than I do approximating to recipes.
Talking of which, a few words if I may on ingredients. Sometimes I'm asked “what kind of food do you eat or cook at the monastery?” Which is a difficult question to answer, given the variety of cooks and cultural influences. But if I had to give our ‘style’ some sort of a label I'd say it was “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-east-west-fusion” (still talking about the kitchen, you understand?) That means we are sincerely grateful for whatever's offered, and work with it. Nevertheless, it's helpful, given the extent of people's generosity combined with our limited storage space, to be able to identify what we really need and what we have in excess. So, if you consult this blog, you can rest assured your offerings will be quickly in the pan and avoid a neglected, languishing life in the cupboard before they're used.
Quickly-in-the-pan just now, would be:
· Semi-skimmed long-life milk
· Soya milk (preferably GM-free)
· Tahini
· Coconut milk
· Tomatoes/tinned tomatoes
Neglected-and-languishing just now, would be:
· Salt
· Instant coffee
· Black tea
· Biscuits
I have heard from the monastery’s Stores Master that the following would be helpful:
· Stamps (any value)
· Ecover Multi Surface Cleaner
· Fire Wood
· Teak Oil (from builders merchant)
For those of you who might enjoy sharing the view from our kitchen, it is my aim to update this every Friday.
