Have you ever wondered “What do monks eat?” or “Was Buddha a vegetarian?” Are you attempting to infuse more spirituality into your life? Are you looking for a way to make food consumption more about feeding your soul?
If so, then the Buddha’s Belly series is for you. This second book continues on the path to a more transcendent approach to eating. By providing both wonderful recipes and the history of spiritual food, this newest edition promotes holistic eating as well. Most people have heard the phrase “you are what you eat”, meaning what you put in your stomach is important, aside from whatever religious persuasion you follow. This is one of the reasons mindful eating has become an important trend. Using your gut instinct may depend on the shape your gut is in. Both cookbooks are guides to eating as Buddhists do, showing the reasons and the way to explore the connection between food and spirituality. If you’ve already tried the first volume, what you will gain with this second one is more recipes and more regional takes on the cuisine. Like its predecessor, Buddha’s Belly Book 2 presents colorful, appetizing pictures of “monk food” that will tempt you to try the monk diet yourself. The six newly-included countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Tibet offer more Buddhist dishes.
This is much more than your standard cookbook. Before each country’s section, there is a history of the region’s traditions - spiritual food for thought - which is then followed by a segment on the origins of the flavors to be found there. Though each is about a page in length, the information contained there adds potency to pursuing a more thoughtful approach to preparing and eating on a daily basis.
So you get the bonus of learning about:
- The Birthplace of Buddha
- The Land of Pagodas
- The Roof of the World
- A Cultural Cradle in the Himalayas
- Descendants of Sticky Rice
- A Historical Kingdom
The author, Sally Primrose, includes a thoughtful introduction, which again addresses the thrust of both her Buddha Belly books – that sometimes the effort to feed your soul involves something as simple as what you put into your body.
The 31 recipes presented here vary greatly. Here is a small sampling of titles:
- Dalai Lama’s Momos
- Chili Cheese Stew
- Green Papaya Salad
- Vegetarian Pancakes
- Yellow Split Pea Fritters
- Potato with Bamboo Shoots
Although book one – Recipes for the Enlightened Mind – was strictly vegetarian, book two does include some preparation instructions that involve chicken or seafood for authenticity. However, on any such dish, those ingredients can just be skipped to provide a vegetarian meal. When you are choosing food for spirituality, the choice of how to achieve that remains yours.
Buddhist cuisine is built equally on the ingredients and its mindful preparation. You’ll find lots of useful information on the philosophy’s food beliefs so that if your desire is to achieve a truly Buddhist way of eating, you’ll have both guidance and a number of new appealing recipes from which to choose. Give yourself this book and give yourself a boost! Still not sure, then please click on the Look Inside feature to view the first 10% of this fabulous Buddhist cookbook, and a taste of how to prepare food for spirituality!
