Slow Living in the Kitchen: Embracing Mindfulness Through Cooking
Cooking is now seen in modern society as a problem to be hacked, sped up, or outsourced. Cooking is an activity for which we buy products that promise us faster preparation times, and meals that take all thought out of the experience. While we are hurrying through preparation, though, we are overlooking the essence of what it all entails. Cooking is one of the very few activities we must do in our entirely physical, raw form.
The practice of slow living in the kitchen does not involve spending six hours making a demi-glace. It means a change in your intention and becoming dedicated to other ways of multitasking in favor of truly engaging in self-feeding acts. The following will allow you to transform a household chore into a mindful practice:
The Ritual Of Mise en Place
Mise en place in professional cooking means things put in place. It translates the act of gathering and preparing the cutting of all ingredients prior to the lighting of the fire. In the home kitchen, the mindful first step involves mise en place.
Instead of chopping onions in a frantic manner while burning garlic in a pan, it would be much better to take a few minutes to prepare. One can establish a physical and mental order in this manner. The sound of a knife chopping an onion on a chopping board can be a very soothing sound in itself. It helps to organize your mind by organizing your workspace.
Digital Detox
Kitchen: no phones allowed! Most of us have cooked with one ear on a podcast or watching a program on our tablet while we cook. This multi-tasks your brain and keeps your mind at a high alert state.
Give silence a try. By filtering out the digital sounds, you can focus on the analog sounds of the kitchen. Morning silence brings with it the hiss of oil as it heats up in a pan, the bubble of boiling water as a pot brings it to a boil, the sound of a knife slicing a carrot.
Cooking with Senses, Not Timers
This dependence upon recipes and upon timing removes you from the food. “Cook the onions for five minutes.” But your nose lets you know how long it takes for the onions to be sweet.
Slow living will teach you to trust your instincts. Observe when the color transitions in the meat. Notice the aroma of spices when they unfold in the heat. Sample the sauce regularly as it thickens. By engaging all of your senses while cooking, you develop a relationship between you and the food ingredients. You will cease to be guided by recipe books and learn the culinary alchemy instead.
The Value of the Pause
However, cooking has its areas where waiting is involved. The dough has to rise, water has to boil, and meat has to rest. For people living busy lives, this waiting is considered a wastage of time or a time to surf through their social media.
Reconnect these moments. Take advantage of the time the water is boiling and use it to do some dishes or just stand there quietly breathing. Even pauses are necessary for relief from the mind. Such pauses teach the individual the virtue of patience and the fact that some good things cannot be rushed when they happen.
The Transition to Eating
“Slow living” is also evident at the table. “If you cook a meal with care and then eat it standing up over the sink or watching TV, you break the cycle.”
Sit down to eat. Use dishes and silverware. Take the time to look at the food that you prepared before putting it into your mouth. Drinking water, eating with your attention focused on the food, and enjoying the food allows your body to process the food and your mind to register satiety.
