Seder Meal

It was a natural conclusion to our days spent talking about biblical foundations for the understanding of food, to have a seder meal, a feast celebrated during the Jewish passover. As you can see, Mary Ruth and Loren really got into the spirit of things as our 'parents' presiding over the meal!We gathered around the specially laid table. Each setting was headed with a small plate of symbolic food, a shell, a wine glass, a bowl of salty water, and a booklet containing a form of liturgy. Here you can see the special Seder plate at the head of the table, which contains the symbolic food:
* a green herb (parsley) to be dipped in salty water - a symbol of new life coming from sweat and suffering in the past
* a lamb shank bone (from the roast lamb) - a reminder of the lamb eaten by the Israelites on the night God passed over their houses, sparing their first-born
* bitter herbs (horseradish, onion and lettuce) - a symbol of the bitter life of slavery under Pharaoh in Egypt
* charoset (a 'pebbly' mixture of apples, nuts and spices, moistened with wine), in which the bitter herbs are dipped - a symbol of the mortar and bricks the Israelites slaves made in Egypt
* an egg (hard-boiled or roasted) - a symbol of the cycle of life, and also a symbol of mourning the destruction of Jerusalem

The liturgy recalls the Israelites escape from Egypt, the goodness of God, and offers praise to God. I helped make the unleavened matzah bread (a bit like crackers - whole wheat flour, oil and water) that was broken and shared. The liturgy also encouraged the consumption of four glasses of wine. Given that we'd spent the previous day fasting (in line with our discussion earlier), we all poured very small portions!

Once the main part of the liturgy was complete we feasted! Chicken soup with matzo balls, roast lamb, salad, vegetables, and Passover cake for dessert (much like a sponge cake made with almond meal).
We were all very full by the end of the evening, as we finished the liturgy with praise and thanksgiving.

Food Course: Days 3 - 4

Days 3 and 4 of the course were entitled "Biblical Foundations and Themes" and we delved into scripture to explore the ideas of Eden, Passover, kosher eating, feasting, fasting, sabbath, hospitality, justice and Eucharist.

Obviously that was a lot to cover, so here are some notes that have got me thinking:
1. Sabbath: In sabbath becoming Sunday, it loses its deep sense of peace...
* setting aside our own agendas
* appreciating what we have
* sharing what we have
* delighting in what we have
Sabbath is not a legalistic duty but linked to the creation narrative (with all its implications), centred on a meal. Any meal can be a mini-sabbath if it helps us slow down and appreciate God's goodness to us.

2. Eden: Genesis 2:15-17 sets God's agenda for creation and humanity. Man participates with God in the full flowering of creation. The garden is life-giving and comes with a prohibition (and consequences). Death is part of creation before humanity is created (think compost and geological findings about fossil fuels!) How is death as a punishment to be seen then? Sin is ultimately about our choice to separate ourselves from God. The immediate death in Eden is the fear, shame and discomfort that Adam & Eve suffer when they eat the forbidden fruit, breaking their communion with God. Alexander Schmemann, an Eastern Orthodox theologian, has more to say about the sacramental nature of life in For the Life of the World.

3. Hospitality: The covenantal relationships God has with humanity and creation are often sealed and celebrated with a meal (sacrifice or feast). In Genesis 18, Abraham welcomes his holy guests with a meal. In 2 Kings 6:8-23 a meal is the setting in which conflicts are solved. In some cultures (ancient & nowadays) a guest is considered 'family' once they have had a meal, or three cups of tea, or eaten bread... Even in the West today, food is used to break down social barriers, to build relationships, and celebrate people and remembered events.

4. Fasting & Kosher: One way show appreciation for God is to feast and be thankful; another is to refrain from eating certain foods, or for a period of time. This acknowledges that while food is a necessity, it can also become a temptation or idol. How and what we eat is important. In recognising our hunger, we recognise our need for and dependence on God.

The quotes I chose for these days are:
"The first, the basic definition of man is that he is the priest. He stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his acts of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God – and by filling the world with this eucharist, he transforms his life, the one he receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with Him. The world was created as the “matter,” the material of one all-embracing eucharist, and man was created as the priest of this cosmic sacrament" (Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World, 15).

This one just tickled my fancy! "Except ye munch the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves" (Aileen Guilding, The Fourth Gospel and Jewish Worship, 59, [quoting John 6:53, my italics]). No wonder the early Christians were thought to be cannabilistic in their worship of Christ! But surely we would gain more life if we really savour our relationship with Jesus.

"In the eucharist the curse is undone and paradise restored. Instead of the eating that brought death there is offered the eating that brings eternal life. The… Eucharistic bread as the antidote to the forbidden fruit of Genesis 3” (Guilding, 63).

Food Course: Day 2

Okay, so I haven't been on the food course for the last 2 months, but here is my attempt to begin to catch you up with what has happened (briefly!)

Day 2 was entitled "Eating to Live / Living to Eat" and our lecture and discussion focussed on the flow from the biology... to ecology... to philosophy... and to theology of eating. We talked about the need to eat and how our bodies use food, especially about the misleading analogy of the body as a machine (machines burn fuel, while bodies are rebuilt by the food we consume). We discussed agriculture as a simplified form of a natural ecosystem, which in itself can also be a large threat to the natural ecosystem! The philosophical and theological discussions ended up melding into one discussion but I can't really sum it up in a sentence. We ranged far and wide!

The quote I chose for today was from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (page 10): “I used to take my children’s friends out to the garden to warm them up to the idea of eating vegetables, but this strategy sometimes backfired: they’d back away slowly saying, ‘Oh man, those things touched dirt!’”
Kingsolver's book was an easy, informative, and entertaining read. Her website continues the story from her book, which documents her family's move to a farm in the Appalachian countryside.

Food Course Intro

I am currently on a course called "Food: Creation, Community, and Communion," held on Galiano Island, one of the Gulf Islands off the west coast of British Columbia. I am one of 25 Regent College students who are privileged to be participating in this course in its inaugural offering. It is being taught and hosted by Mary Ruth and Loren Wilkinson, who have taught me (separately) in other courses I've taken at Regent.

So far, we have had a busy time. Our general daily rhythm is lectures in the mornings and rest or chores in the afternoons. We have 50+ pages of reading for each class and some evenings we watch food related movies.

On Sunday night the class arrived at Galiano Island (rather late) and we had gingerbread for dessert and settled into our places of sleep. I am staying at the Fee/Martin house, about 7 minutes walk from the Wilkinson's farmhouse. It has a beautiful view of the water, looking out on Salt Spring Island.

Monday morning saw us consume crepes and multiple toppings for breakfast, before our first lecture in the Wilkinson's living room. Our scripture reading was from Luke, where Jesus invites his disciples for breakfast on the beach. We then introduced ourselves to the class, saying where we were from (before Regent) and why we had come to the course. It was amazing how diverse and how similar many of our answers were!

Mary Ruth then spoke about the main components of a meal: tongue, table, guests and grace. She read two children's books, An Angel for Solomon Singer and Mrs Moskowitz and the Sabbath Candlesticks, and based her lecture on our two readings (selections from Margaret Visser, The Rituals of Dinner, and Leon Kass, The Hungry Soul). It was interesting to see how aspects of a meal we take for granted are quite significant in "being human."

For lunch we had nettle soup (yes, some of the nettles we picked and prepared, Nath) and "biscuits" (scones). Then my group had a 'rest day' so I read and napped in the afternoon.

I picked my 'daily quote' from the required reading for our class anthology from Visser, page 14: "…(the Maori word tapu is the origin of our “taboo”)…" It formed part of a discussion of the etiquette of cannibalism amongst Maori and other cultural groups! I thought it was particularly interesting, given my understanding of tapu as holy, and its use for conserving resources in local areas.

Dinner was kedgeree. Yum! It was an opportunity to put some 'cultural context' around the food. I know kedgeree as a British breakfast dish, derived from India (when occupied by the British). This was confirmed by our two UK students, Debbie and Esther. I explained this to Soohwan, our Korean friend who has spent a lot of time in Bangladesh, and she laughed: "Kidgeree is a dish made from leftovers or the mash fed to babies! I've never had it with smoked fish."

After dinner there was a showing of a Danish film (with subtitles), Babette's Feast. It explored community, acceptance, gratitude, and generosity. A fine way to end our first day.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Here is our Canadian Thanksgiving dinner before: And after:We had roast chicken with cranberry sauce, roast sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and green beans. For dessert we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream (sorry, I forgot to take a picture).

As you can see from the first picture, I got the cranberry sauce from a can, and a ready-made pumpkin pie from the supermarket bakery. I had not intended to do this. Being on a budget, however, I was surprised to find that it was cheaper to buy both these items rather than to make them from scratch. Even cheating - by making it with pumpkin pie filling in a can - was more expensive!

Apparently, the North American art of baking is being lost. It is rare to find someone who has the time, budget, and inclination to cook from flour, sugar, butter, etc (except in food blogs - see links). Maybe this is why the faculty are gobbling up my baking so readily! It is generally accepted that cookies come from a tube of dough, frosting comes in a can, muffins are packet mix with milk added, pie crusts are not made but bought, and afternoon tea for guests is bought at a bakery on the way home. This is a tragedy! (Can you tell I'm calling for a counter-cultural revolution?!)

The tragedy of packet cooking aside, the other possible tragedy of big dinners is wasted leftovers. So the chicken and veges were made into potato-topped pie and the pumpkin pie was happily consumed in the following days. My one dilemma was what to do with the cranberry sauce because most of the can was leftover. After a stint in the freezer as I deliberated, the sauce was drained of excess liquid and became the filling, along with a red eating apple (skin on), for a cranberry & apple shortcake. Here it is with some apricot yoghurt, before being devoured.

P.S. Check out the library blog my mum contributes to here. It is a great resource for teachers and lovers of children's books. She is 'Lynn, P. North', and you can see a picture of her display "Kikorangi Blue" there too. Well done, Mum!

What's Black and White and Red All Over?

Homemade pizza of course!

This was the glorious result of using up the leftovers in our fridge. The toppings included tomato paste, fresh tomato, bacon, red capsicum, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, and mushrooms (which I forgot until the last minute, which is why they are on top!) All this was served with fresh salad leaves. Yummmmmmm!

Not quite 'black, white and red,' but not far off, is a discovery of our friend, Claire. She brought these 'cookies' over last night to share with us and compare with the NZ biscuit.

So our conclusions are: Dream Puffs are two-thirds the size of Mallow Puffs, have a lesser proportion of marshmallow, are very sweet, and the raspberry is a bit like the 'deluxe' versions available in NZ at present (e.g. jaffa). Worth a try, but not quite the same!

Trapping and Triumph

In the latter end of summer we have had a problem with those pesky little fruit flies that always seem to come home with us from the greengrocer! They wouldn't be a problem under usual circumstances, but the fact we have insect screens over the windows and keep the door closed to keep cool, means they are trapped inside our home (and multiply)!

Since fly spray would circulate through the air vents to our upstairs neighbours, this wasn't really an option. Our friends, April and Claire, shared a simple way to trap these pests, and humanely release them outside (though my instinct was to squish them mercilessly). A slice of banana (or another strongly scented fruit) is put in a glass. The glass is then sealed with plastic (Saran/Glad) wrap and small holes pierced in the top. (This was reminiscent of bugs brought to school!) The flies were attracted by the fruit, worked their way into the glass through the holes, and then couldn't make their way out (thanks to the stretchy, clear properties of the plastic). This ingenious solution caught 10 flies within 24 hours, and over the following days, 'netted' the rest. Isn't it great when simple, cheap solutions work just as effectively as the usual quick-fix?!

On another note, I got some jam and made another two batches of Grandma T's Spice square, with better results than last time (see here)! Some was used for a faculty coffee break and we consumed the rest. This time I doubled the cake part of the recipe so it was thicker overall. Our various guests over the last week have all given it a thumbs up!