Good Kitchen Karma

"Clean the sinks! Clear the drains! Be friends with your friends!"

by Bruce Schimmel

With the holidays nearly here, some of you are gearing up, whether you know it or not, for a fight — in the kitchen.

The outbursts of French chefs who dump imperfect dishes to the floor pale in comparison to some of the turf wars I've witnessed in years of making holiday meals. In kitchens across America this Thanksgiving, cooks will be crossing spatulas over how best not to burn the bird. To stuff or not to stuff. And whether you really need marshmallows on sweet potato pie. (The answer: Yes.)

So, in the interest of less petulance in the pantry, I consulted with a legend of good kitchen karma, master chef and Buddhist priest Edward Espe Brown. If cookbooks are like friends, The Tassajara Bread Book — brown paper Bible of wholesome bread-baking — is among my oldest. Since 1970, nearly a million copies have been generously dusted with flour.

Since the 2007 documentary How to Cook Your Life, Ed (as he likes to be called) has enjoyed renewed celebrity — even if the film reveals how cooking in common can overwhelm even the patience of a priest. Recently, The Complete Tassajara Cookbook, a compendium of his vegetarian favorites, has been published. I reached Ed at his home near San Francisco, where he continues to teach cooking at the famed Tassajara retreat and elsewhere.

So how does this cooking teacher and Zen priest keep peace in all the kitchens he cooks in? 

"I like to think of myself as pretty mellow," says Ed, "but I'm not, actually. It's really challenging when [my students] tell me what to do, and aren't interested in what I have to say."

A Buddhist retreat may feature communal living, but the first suggestion Ed offers is to let each cook take complete charge of a single dish.

"I've made the mistake of thinking, 'Hey, I'm in charge here.' I learned that while you can talk to other people about their dish, they're still in charge. At some point I'm willing to let go of the results, rather than to be a terror in the kitchen."

Another way to reduce bad kitchen karma is to clean up after yourself. Ed says that cleaning is all about "being good friends," with both the tools of the trade and the people you work with.

"Cooking makes cleaning possible," Ed writes, and "cleaning makes cooking possible." Which comes down to a single, simple dictum: "Clean as you go."

Clean your knives and put them back. Rinse and wring out your sponge and towels. Wipe the counter, sweep and scrub the floor. "Clean the sinks! Clear the drains! Be friends with your friends!"

As a teacher, Ed travels widely and often stays in other people's homes. Early morning, before anyone gets up, he'll empty the dishwasher, setting the stage for a clean kitchen.

"I really endeavor not to leave anything behind, and pick up more than my share, if I can. Pretty soon, you'll be welcome, because you've cleaned up after yourself."

So there you have it, two rules from the Sensei for curtailing the range wars in the kitchen: 1. Let people take pride in what they do, and 2. Be a friend by cleaning up after yourself.

Come to think of it, it's a good recipe for harmony, anywhere.

E-mail bruce@citypaper.net or visit schimmel.com.