Abstract

In Buddhist temples, a monk with the title of tenzo prepares all food dishes every day. The author of this book, one of the most famous tenzo in Japan, introduces over 50 recipes which he actually makes and eats in his temple. Monks have many tasks to do in their temples, so all the dishes are designed for easy and speedy preparation. Moreover, Buddhist monks are not allowed to eat any meat, fish or eggs, so all the dishes introduced in this book are made only of vegetables and grains.

Practitioners of Buddhist temple cuisine do not destroy any parts of their ingredients—not even peels, seeds or roots—because Buddhist philosophy treats all ingredients as having their own lives; thus to to destroy even a little part of them would be to kill them. In practice this also saves on ingredients and costs.

Temple cuisine has over 500 years of history, so sometimes it may seem old-fashioned. But the author has added various modern touches to the traditional menu—for example, curry sauce, pasta sauce, and marinade—in order to accommodate modern tastes. The author also provides many secret tips for making Buddhist cuisine at home.

Author’s Information

Kakuho Aoe (1977–) is a priest of the Jodo Shinshu Honganji School of Buddhism. He also obtained an MBA at California State University. As the head cook at a Buddhist temple, he strives to spread the way of Buddhist cuisine and food education based on Buddhist philosophy. He also appears on popular TV cooking programs in Japan, demonstrating how to utilize Buddhist philosophy in home cooking. The dishes he introduces are easy to make and add some modern touches to traditional dishes.