70.0 We Are The Species Who Cooks. The Others Do Not. So, Cooking Makes Us Truly Human.

I could not add this point to the previous article Cooking... that discussed spices. It is the value of our spices. A few decades ago, my mother prepared all the spices at home. She prepared curry powder by putting many ingredients. There was a nice smell when she was preparing it. Without seeing her and going to the kitchen, we knew the task that she was working on because of that smell. Later on, we bought curry powder because of my mother's bad health condition. Recently, I prepared it for an alms-giving and I felt the difference of a homemade one. Though it did not give that much smell like my mother's curry powder, it gave a nice taste.

The ingredients are not merely for the taste, and some of them are medicine. Coriander is the main ingredient used for curry powder. So, unknowingly and without a bitter taste, we use that medicine for every meal. So, if we prepare even for one curry with it, then it is a medicine. Recently, my father read an article about these spices and got to know that leaves of coriander also a good spice to put. So, now he wants to plant coriander. Now he is working on it. He he he...

When moving to our food process discussion, we already discussed the first steps. Though you think that now it is time to eat, you are wrong. What is the preparation method is the next thing? You should decide, how do you prepare it. You can fry. You can prepare it with coconut milk. You can put more chili powder and less coconut milk. The choice is up to you. NO... It's not up to you. You should think of many conditions. The preferences of others are the key point. So, according to your priority schedule, you can do it. The next thing is, you should think about whether the curries are matched with each other. As an example, you cannot fry all the curries. You should fry one and you should prepare another one with more coconut milk.
 

However, coconut milk is a key ingredient for Sri Lankan food. It is a mandatory item for a meal. It is also a medicine. It helps to remove Poison in your body. That is why we let drink coconut milk to patients infected with poison.

In our food course, coconut milk is like a sub meal. Its preparation takes an additional effort. You cannot take coconut milk for a few minutes. You should scrape coconut first, and then you should squeeze the scraped coconut. Most of the other family members do this task for their mother/wife/sister, etc... as a help. It is a big help though it is one task in this food preparation process. One of my friends said that he does it for his wife every morning, and it is a big headache for him. When they go to the wife's home, her parents are the ones who give coconuts for their consumption. So, he said that recently, he refused it because he is the one who has to do it. Now, it is the gent's key home chore during the lockdown period due to the COVID19 situation. Lol...

There was another friend and she has three kids. She does all the home chores without a supporter. However, her husband is the one who scrapes coconut and that is the only help he did. One day both were angry and there was a fight. She said that she hit him using equipment in the kitchen without thinking about the loss. Meantime, she emphasized the heavy tasks she has to do during the entire day. At that time her husband complained about the coconut matter, and he said that he cannot scrape coconut every morning. Lol...

Therefore, now you know, coconut milk is an important thing in this food preparation process. Though there are coconut milk powder packets to buy, still, it is not the preference of most of the Sri Lankans as per my knowledge. The main reason is the artificial things that use to keep it for a certain time. So, still, most of them are going through this difficult procedure.

When it comes to cooking the prepared stuff, still, most of the Sri Lankans use wood and gas. Wood is the main thing for poor people. So, finding out wood and arrange it in a suitable way to put into the hearth is another job. Therefore, the people who are using wood hearths are doing a difficult job. That flame goes with carbon, and they have to deal with carbon when cooking and washing the pans. 

A few years back, there was a murder, and a son killed his mother. I think it is done because that mother asked him to stop his love affair. That boy was under 18. So, it happened, unfortunately. That incident shocked many, and still, I can remember a poem published in a Facebook post. It mentioned the pain that bears up by a mother to grow a son. In one verse, it says "Did you kill your mother who cooks for you by bearing up the heat of the hearth". Later on, that son said that he felt unbearable sorrow when he was seeing the dining table.

Sometimes I think why should we put this much effort into the food preparation when people in other countries prepare their meals with less effort. If food preparation is the only thing, then we can allocate that time. The more time we take for cooking is the drawback we have. But everything has both drawbacks and benefits. I think Sri Lankans have their endemic food quality, varieties, and culture as benefits.

The other thing is important for everyone irrespective of their religion or nationality. Do you think that you can gain merits via your meal? Yes. It is possible. You can avoid wasting food. You can donate a bit to somebody or an animal. Apart from all, you can think about the impermanence of the feeling you have when you taste the food. That is the great merit out of all. Now can you feel the taste of breakfast you had? Or lost it? It disappeared. That is impermanence. What will happen to the tasty food when it goes to your stomach?

Before you go to sleep, can you imagine an inner image of your stomach by thinking about the food you had from the morning? It will look like a garbage bag. What do you think when you are disposing of it in the next morning? Those are the digested food you had on the previous day. So, guys, finally, that is the truth about food. It is the great truth preached by Lord Buddha.

Therefore, when your mother/wife/sister, etc.… prepares a tasty meal, do appreciate them. But don’t get stuck to that taste. If she cannot cook it well for you, then don’t blame her. Think about the process she followed up to bring it to the dining table. Think about the actual food process that is happening from the mouth to the toilet.

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