No Recipe

April 1, 2018

Zen teacher and chef Brown (The Tassajara Bread Book) offers profound and insightful claims arising from his daily practice, but the overall mantra seems to be this: "Noticing differences and considering which differences make a difference, we can study what is truly important." What is important to Brown is being responsive, being present, and most of all, joy, or one's awareness resonating with one's being. Cooking and, by extension, eating become the prisms through which Brown engages, encourages, and experiences his awareness. For example, noticing even the simple ingredients that make up a recipe, he marvels at the many hands that it took to bring something like a single onion to his plate. These collected essays embody the fullness of Brown's experience as a baker who practices Zen through work; for him, "work is practice." These essays explore food, emotions, ego, and relationship as encountered in and through cooking. VERDICT Some might lament that there are no recipes included as Brown's loving re-creations of cooking will stir a literal as well as metaphorical hunger in readers.--Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary Lib., Pittsburgh

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 16, 2018
Brown (The Tassajara Bread Book), the head cook at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, addresses the spiritual qualities of cooking in this illuminating guide. Brown presents cooking as a refreshing celebration of the mundane—an act he feels is at the heart of understanding the sacred and a valuable means of enlarging one’s spirituality. Reflecting a modern, Western style of Zen Buddhism, Brown’s observations are rich with reminders to pay attention sensually as well as to engage one’s immediate experience and realize the freedom inherent in having choices. There are no recipes here; instead, Brown’s observations and encouragements fill the pages. His exhortation that “you’re the cook!” applies not only in the kitchen, but to all of life, he writes. Readers will learn to recognize and allow their emotions to be part of the cooking process, to make space for experiment and imperfection, and that Zen communities are subject to the same pettiness as any other. This book’s down-to-earth wisdom, generous spirit, and exuberant encouragement simply to cook will appeal to all readers who enjoy cooking, particularly those with an interest in Zen spirituality.