Cultural Histories Of Vegetarian Cuisine
by Holly Stewart
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."- Mahatma Gandhi (statesman and philosopher)
The 1990s may well be remembered as the decade in which North America discovered healthy eating. Far from being a fad, the interest among many to replace animal products in their diet with more nutritious vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes is founded on scientific papers extolling the health and environmental benefits of plant-based diets. Others are becoming vegetarian out of compassion for animals. But as many of us forego the meat and dairy aisles of our local supermarket, the question of "what to cook instead?" presents a new challenge.
It is perhaps ironic that current medical studies are only now catching up with what some cultures have known for centuries: that vegetarian cooking is not only healthier but can be a sumptuous feast for the palate too. From these cultures we may inherit a wealth of incredible cuisine and a knowledge of exotic herbs and spices - with recipes that far outshine the old "meat and two veg" fare that used to weigh down our plate. So let's take a culinary journey to points around the globe, and bring home some new ideas to use in your kitchen. While there have been numerous vegan, vegetarian or veggie-friendly cultures down through history, we'll look at just a few in the following pages. And often the philosophy behind the cuisine is as satisfying to the soul as to the palate: it represents a way of living on the planet that is respectful, peaceful and nurturing.
India: Land Of Exotic Spices
The state of Gujarat lies in the northwest of India, renowned for sophisticated, light vegetarian cuisine. Here exotic and healthy dishes have been created for centuries by those of the Jain faith, whose diet reflects their peaceful principles. Their compassion for all life is especially exemplified by Jain priests, who wear cotton masks to avoid inadvertently inhaling insects, and sweep the ground in front of them as they walk to avoid stepping on any little creatures. The central tenets of Jainism are non-violence, non-absolutism and non-possession:
Non-violence strengthens the autonomy of life of every being. Non-absolutism strengthens the autonomy of thought of every individual. Non-possession strengthens the interdependence of all existence. If you feel that every soul is autonomous you will never trample on its right to live. If you feel every person is a thinking person you will not trample on his or her thoughts. If you feel that you own nothing and no one, you will not trample on the planet. These are the only values that can save humanity from the deadly acts of war, economic exploitation and environmental destruction."1
Respecting the value of all life, those in the Jain faith choose to eat low on the food chain and therefore almost no animal products (respecting the animals themselves as well as the intensive agriculture required to raise livestock for food). Their cuisine is almost entirely vegan, free from meat, fish, and eggs and only occasionally including dairy. The exotic recipes we associate with India - curries and much more - transform their diverse range of grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables into a feast for the senses. And the knowledge of spices they have developed not only produces incredible dishes, but has a history of uses through Ayurvedic medicine as well. The fragrant and earthy spices of cumin and coriander improve the digestibility of beans and reduce gas; as does ajwain which is often given to women after delivery to speed recovery; golden turmeric is antibacterial; and fenugreek strengthens the bones and improves arthritis and rheumatism - just to name a few.
A superb example of Jain cuisine can be found here in Vancouver at Surat Sweet Restaurant on West 4th Avenue. Owners Mahen and Ranjan Shah continue this culinary tradition with dishes such as Dhokra (delightful steamed chick-pea flour cakes dressed with mustard seeds and grated coconut, served with tamarind sauce), Dal Bhajia (fritters made from ground lentils and served with coconut chutney) and Thalis (a combination of daily curries, dal, rice and chapatis).
Over the centuries Jain cooking has developed a sophisticated style you won't find at the average Indian restaurant. Mahen Shah says that other regions' dishes are often overpowered with spices and high in fat, concealing the true flavours of the food. Jain cooking always balances the "five flavours" essential to Gujarati cuisine: sweet, sour, salty, pungent and bitter. Chillies and garlic are used of course, but not in the quantities you may be accustomed to equating with Indian cooking. The true flavour of the ingredients comes through the subtle and diverse blend of spices, and leaves the palate clean and satisfied.
Mahen Shah is the quintessential host at Surat Sweet, and says that his customers enter his restaurant but soon feel like they have been welcomed into his home for dinner. "Our customers are often interested in why we do what we do, and if so, I tell them. People are very receptive. All the food prepared at Surat Sweet is in harmony, and people feel that difference when they have finished their meal." The sense of harmony may also come from the peaceful principles behind the food, that of ahimsa, or non-violence to every living thing. "Life is like an orchestra," says Mahen. "If anything is out of tune then the music doesn't sound so sweet." He feels that a philosophy of life has been lost in our society, and if one has no principles then life seems meaningless. Returning to a respect for all life brings one back into harmony.
| "May all beings look at me with a friendly eye. May I do likewise, and may we all look on each other with the eyes of a friend." - Yajur Veda:36.18 |
Buddhism: The Peaceful Palate
Prince Siddhartha Guatama was born in 563 B.C. to a royal family in Benares, near the foothills of the Himalayas in present-day Nepal. Many years later he would renounce all his worldly goods and eventually become an "Enlightened One" or Buddha. The philosophy which he developed, based on cultivating mercy and respect for all living beings, was called Buddhism. The seeds of this philosophy were later carried to China, where Buddhism truly took root and flowered. Now there are approximately 312 million Buddhists worldwide.
The Buddhist nature of compassion for all living beings is practised through their diet, as shown in the following quote:
| "Having a merciful and compassionate heart will show up in all aspects of one's life, but the simplest and most direct way is to follow a vegetarian diet. Think of how intense the pain of accidentally stepping on a nail is. So how can one have the heart to eat the flesh of creatures who have suffered the pain of being slaughtered, skinned, dismembered, and cooked?"1 |
I was deeply moved upon reading two stories on the theme of mercy; they will be etched forever in my memory. One is recorded in the book, Record of Protecting Life:
| "When a scholar named Chou Yu was cooking some eel to eat, he noticed one of the eels bending its body such that its head and tail were still in the boiling liquid, but its body arched upward above the soup. It did not fall completely in until finally dying. Chou Yu found the occurrence a strange one, pulled out the eel, and cut it open. He found thousands of eggs inside. The eel had arched its belly out of the hot soup to protect its offspring. He cried at the sight, sighed with emotion, and swore never again to eat eel." |
Further scriptures have this to say:
| "All Buddhist disciples should abstain from killing, practise vegetarianism, and cultivate a spirit of great mercy. They should look upon all living beings in equality.... The law of causality (cause and effect) is the basic rule of Buddhism. Where there is a cause, there must be effect. As a man sows, so shall he reap.... Eating the flesh of others, one must repay flesh to them.... One poem of our old master goes as follows: 'For the past hundreds and thousands of years, there in the broth of the bowls have been grievances as deep as the sea, and resentment difficult to atone for. If one wishes to know the cause of mundane war disasters, one has only to listen to the midnight sounds from the abbattoir.' "3 |
Buddhist scriptures have a charming response to other religions' anthropocentric claims that:
| "Nature nurtures the existence of all living creatures, which are precisely meant for man to eat, and if man does not eat them, it is against the will of Heaven. Do they know that Nature nurtures many kinds of animals, which can eat man, and if man does not offer himself for them to eat, whether this also is against the will of Heaven?"4 |
Modern-day vegetarians can reap the benefits of centuries of accrued knowledge in Asian vegetarian cooking. One tasty ingredient is seitan, the protein-rich gluten derived from wheat and cooked in exotic sauces. The wealth of soya products available - including tofu, soya milk, tempeh, miso, soya flour and soya "cheeses" to name a few - ensure that vegetarians' plates are always full, colourful and nutritious! Substances almost exclusively found in soyfoods have been shown to reduce the risk of breast, colon, lung, stomach and prostate cancers.5 Epidemiological studies comparing Asian and American women provide evidence that lifestyle makes a substantial difference in the way a woman's body adjusts to menopause. Japanese women, whose diet is packed with plant-derived estrogens (particularly in soybeans) have little menopausal discomfort and the least rates of the two major killers of American women, coronary heart disease and breast cancer.6
We are especially fortunate in Vancouver to have a wealth of excellent Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. In Chinatown there are the Miu Jay Garden, the Bodai and the Buddhist Vegetarian Restaurants; Le Veggie in the West End; Bo-Jik and Bo-Kong in central Vancouver; and The Rainbow and Bo-Kong in Richmond. Gourmet creations are always to be found at the Miu Jay Garden Vegetarian Restaurant, where even the most hardened carnivores have, at the end of their meal, proclaimed it their favourite restaurant! Owner and master chef Richard Pang, who provided some of the Buddhist material for this article, says that his love of people keeps him in business. After running other styles of restaurants over the years, he decided to dedicate all his time and energy to providing quality Buddhist cuisine - using fresh, organic ingredients - as a service to his community. If Richard's finesse as a chef and the warmth with which he serves his customers reflect at all on the Buddhist philosophy, then it is a noble one indeed.
Ethiopia: The Bread Basket Of Africa
Ethiopian cuisine reflects beautifully the rich heritage of this fertile country. It is ironic that our current western view of Ethiopia - fed by images in the media of recent droughts and political upheavals - overshadows its birthright as the "bread basket of Africa." Indeed, the western world has turned to Ethiopia in recent decades to restore stocks of lost seed grains. Except during tragic droughts, such as the past few decades, the highlands of Ethiopia receive a heavy rainfall - so heavy, in fact, that since the dawn of time the Nile has been overflowing in Egypt, thousands of miles away, with the runoff and nutrients from the well-soaked highlands. The land and people of Ethiopia, or Abyssinia of old, have much to teach us.
The people of Ethiopia are approximately 50% Moslem and 50% Orthodox Christian (Christianity having been brought to Ethiopia in 325 AD.) While followers of the major religions strictly observe fasts, Orthodox Christians go one farther by abstaining from all animal products for much of the year - 208 days, including Lent (the 60 days before Easter), a month during the summer, and Wednesdays and Fridays of the entire year. Thus a wealth of recipes have been developed in their culture completely free of animal products, right down to creating a delicious type of sunflower seed milk to replace dairy.
Grains and legumes are the most important crops and the chief element in the diet of most Ethiopians. The principal grains are t'ef, wheat, barley, corn, sorghum, and millet. T'ef, the "super grain" beloved of Ethiopians, furnishes the flour for injera, an unleavened bread that is the favoured staple. Although it is the smallest grain in the world, t'ef is a nutritional powerhouse with 14% protein, very high in mineral content, calcium and iron (testing out at 17 to 19 times the calcium content and two to three times the iron content of wheat, barley or sorghum).7 Legumes are the second most important element in the national diet and a principal protein source. They are boiled, roasted, or included in a stew-like dish known as we't, which is gorgeously spiced with berbere - a unique combination of red chilis, garlic, ginger, onions, cardamom, rue, basil, cloves and cinnamon.
Assefa Kebede has brought Ethiopian hospitality and cooking to Vancouver, where at his Nyala restaurant in Kitsilano one can sample this unique cuisine. In keeping with tradition, he even grows t'ef in the Lower Mainland, harvests and mills it fresh for use in the bread "injera" at Nyala. He states that the high calcium content of t'ef and little consumption of dairy accounts for the low incidence of osteoporosis in Ethiopia. Medical studies support this, showing that countries where dairy consumption is lowest and calcium is derived from plant foods have also the lowest incidence of osteoporosis, refuting the dairy industry's calcium myth. Samples of the feathery grain te'f in its various stages of harvest can be viewed at the restaurant, a healthy reminder of our heritage grains worldwide that have been forgotten in our western push for monoculture.
A typical meal at Nyala is served on a large platter, laid with sheets of the spongy, sourdough injera. Across this are arranged richly spiced red or yellow lentil stews (Yemisir Wat), a gorgeously flavoured dish of carrots and cabbage, or subtly flavoured greens (Tikil Gomen).
Of course, the fun of this tradition is eating with your hands - tearing off pieces of injera and using it to scoop up the flavourful stews. And for you java lovers out there, try the unforgettable Ethiopian coffee ceremony following dinner. Almost half of Nyala's menu is vegetarian, and a full vegetarian buffet is served every Wednesday and Sunday for $10.
A World In Your Kitchen
Once you have sampled some of these cultures' exotic dishes, re-creating them in your own kitchen is really very simple, requiring only a little practise and an adventurous spirit! A number of cookbooks are available at the EarthSave office to help you get started. Most cultures work from a similar base of vegetables, grains and legumes, but the real flair comes through each region's choice of spices and herbs: Bouquet garni (parsley, thyme and bay leaf) in France; Garam Masala (cumin, coriander seeds, cardamom, cloves, mace, cinnamon, bay leaf and black pepper) in northern India; and 5-Spice Powder (star anise, Sichuan pepper, cassia or cinnamon, fennel seeds and cloves) in China - to name a few.
There are also unseen benefits in adding herbs and spices to foods, some already mentioned. They increase the vitamin and mineral content, and improve digestion. Garlic, beloved of many cultures, is rich in germanium which has beneficial effects on the circulation. The bitter element in herbs and spices serves to "prime" the digestive system, stimulating the liver and gall bladder, improving digestion and helping to eliminate toxins.
So hats off to these and many other cultures, who have made vegetarian cuisine a delight to the palate, healthy for the body, and good for the soul. Happy cooking!
1. That Which Is...A Classical Jain Manual for Understanding the True Nature of Reality - Tattvartha Sutra
2. A Buddhist View of Vegetarianism
3. Why Man Should Be A Vegetarian
4. ibid.
5. The Simple Soybean and Your Health - Drs. Mark & Virginia Messina and Kenneth R. Setchell
6. Good Medicine, Spring 1994, Sharon Gleason
7. Exotic Ethiopian Cooking, D.J. Mesfin