Product Description
For more than 30 years, cooking has sustained and enriched Ed Brown's life. A Zen priest and a master chef, he has found that cooking is healing, meditative, artful and joyous; preparing each meal can be an act of generosity and love. In Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, he brings together his practice of both Zen meditation and cooking to tell stories that delight our spirits--and teach us how to create many of his most beloved recipes, from ginger muffins to potato leek soup. Here is a book for the willing cook in all of us--an inspiration for everyone who enjoys the pleasure of a great cook's company.

Amazon.com Review
It is no surprise that Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings offers a transcendental experience; the author is a Zen monk. He also ranks just behind culinary luminaries Alice Waters of Chez Panisse restaurant in California, and Deborah Madison, an expert on natural ingredients. Brown's 125 vegetarian recipes range from an elementally simple sauté of apple slices plumped in butter, cinnamon and sugar, to the exciting combination of Chili Crepes with Goat Cheese Filling Served over Garlicky Black Beans. Garbanzo Bean Stew with Spinach and Saffron, and a lasagne made with cabbage leaves and potatoes simmered gently with lots of garlic, red wine, and a dash of cream are other ways Brown shares his refreshing creativity, which is always tempered by his innate sense of what works.

Direct but playful, Brown devotes half of Tomato Blessing and Radish Teachings to stories about his spiritual path, which led him through the kitchens of the Tassajara and San Francisco Zen Centers. Most of his learning centered around working with food. So do these stories, intended to help the reader move towards inner peace and contentment. "Playing with Fire," for instance, is a fable about starting a fire with wet wood. It is a comment on how life proceeds at the pace it requires, which then ties into thoughts about grilling! Recipes for Grilled Eggplant Salad and the exquisite revelation of Grilled Figs accompany this wisdom. As Brown says, you can read this book for its stories, just for its recipes, or for both. You will be amply rewarded whichever path you take. --Dana Jacobi

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 7 reviews)

Eihei Dogen would be proud of his student!

Edward Espe Brown teaches Buddhism through the compassionate observation of the ordinary, in an extraordinary way. All this and recipes too! Let's hope that another publisher picks up this book and bundles it with the DVD of his film "How to Cook Your Life". Four stars and nine bows!
November 26, 2007

Enlightenment through your skillet

This is THE Zen book by Edward Brown that should be in print. Alas, it is not! Yes, I know that Edward Espe Brown is famous for the Tassajara Bread Book and "Not Always So," his lovingly edited lectures by Shunryu Suzuki. And yet, while the bread book was steadfastly telling us how to make bread and Suzuki roshi is sharing with us talks on the zen life, this is the book that puts them together. Can we use cooking to find our original mind in everyday life? Chopping firewood and carrying water... Here in "Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings," the food is not only prepared, but the food prepares us. Together we realize the way, and make beautiful music in the kitchen.
November 28, 2005

Excellent autobiography of a chef

As someone who a) loves autobiographies and b) reads everything I can about chefs, food and cooking, I loved this book through and through. It is a surprisingly humble story about how Edward Espe Brown became the great chef and teacher that he is. He writes in the same simple style that won me over years ago in the Tassajara Bread Book. I don't believe he intended this book of "Recipes and Reflections" to be considered a cookbook (since he's already done so many of those by himself and with others), but to inspire cooks and would-be cooks to explore the wonders of the Universe, via food or any other avenue they might choose. For me it was very inspiring, both personally and professionally, and for some reason I often think of this book and the things he's said, though I read it over a year ago. Since I didn't try any of the recipes scattered throughout (although I found some good ideas in them) I cannot comment on that. Just, I've found this to be one of the most enjoyable and encouraging reads on cooking, teaching and life in general.
February 11, 2002

Highly Recommended Food for thought.

As much a manual on how to live Zen as a cookbook, Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings guides the reader through a philosophy of cooking based on a philosophy of enjoying life. Brown teaches the reader to trust her own instincts and follow her own tastes, rather than be a slave to his wonderfully simple recipes. Following recipes is not about achieving someone else's idea of perfection -- it's about guiding oneself to new tastes and territories, about gaining new insights and knowledge, and using one's common sense to mediate.
December 01, 2001

Buy the other Tassajara cookbooks instead

I love both the Tassajara Bread Book and Tassajara Cooking, so I was excited to see that there was a new book in the series. Unfortunately, this book doesn't live up to the other Tassajara books. Each group of recipes is prefaced by a story about Brown's experiences as a chef and Zen priest, and how the two overlap. While it does make for interesting light reading, the anecdotes outweigh the recipies, which aren't terribly good. While I use the other Tassajara cookbooks all the time (and recommend them both) Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings rarely leaves the shelf.
December 03, 2000

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

The Tassajara Recipe Book
by Edward Espe Brown

The Tassajara Bread Book
by Edward Espe Brown

How to Cook Your Life
by Doris Dörrie, Doris Dörrie, Jörg Jeshel, Suzi Giebler, Fidelis Mager, Franz X. Gernstl, Richard Sterling
Directed by Doris Dörrie
Starring Edward Espe Brown, Doris Dörrie
Lions Gate

Tassajara Cooking
by Edward Espe Brown

How to Cook Your Life: From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment
by Eihei Dogen, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi