The Ayurvedic Chef

“Food is our medicine, and with proper diet, medicine is unnecessary.”

 

As a young boy, I remember helping my mother in the kitchen and being fascinated by the process of preparing the family’s food. I had no idea that I would later discover one of my career paths as a chef.

 

Before the world wars cooking was a labor of love without the use of preservatives, fillers, extenders, or manipulating the tastes of our food, but leading up to, during and following those years, our society became flooded with dried, powdered, frozen, and canned foods that brought widespread use of preservatives.

 

As the world has become increasingly fast-paced, it is unfortunate that nutrition has become so overlooked, and our way of life has given way to fast foods, drive-through restaurants, convenience, prepared foods, and microwaves, resulting in eating without daily awareness.  

 

Fortunately, in the past decade, there has been a growing movement and awareness about nutrition and health, with many people understanding that “Our health is in our own hands” and with the increasing availability of local, organic, unprocessed foods and farmers markets popping up in our communities we have more opportunities to eat correctly.

 

When I was 16, I got my first job working at a gourmet food, cheese, and wine store, which marked the beginning of my path in the food industry.  I spent ten years in the wine industry before ultimately enrolling at the Cordon Bleu in San Francisco. After two years of training, I went to France as an apprentice.

 

Upon returning to California, I worked in many fine-dining restaurants before becoming the Executive Chef at various establishments, including my restaurant, a hotel, a movie studio, and a Hollywood events company.  Fortunately for me, I have never been involved in any institutional foodservice operation and have always focused on local, seasonal, organic products, emphasizing health and nutrition.

 

Even with all my culinary training and work experience, I was surprised and delighted when I was introduced to the Ayurvedic medical system, which is based on the energetics that surrounds us in nature and explains our universe, environment, individual makeups, including the foods, spices, and herbs we all ingest.

 

According to Ayurveda, all existence is expressed through the five elements: ether, air, fire, water, and earth, which manifest in the body as the three governing principles or energies called doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Everyone has three doshas to varying degrees, with one predominant, one secondary, and one tertiary.  When we are in balance, the doshas promote normal body functions and maintain overall health; however, they can create mental, emotional, and physical ailments when out of balance.

 

Ayurvedic nutrition considers our constitutions and emphasizes proper nutrition through the selection of correct food choices, food combining, and appropriate cooking methods.  In Ayurveda, all food, drinks, spices, and herbs are categorized according to their taste (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent, and astringent) and the energetic effect on the doshas.  When choosing foods, it is essential to understand our constitution, so we eat foods with the opposite qualities to ensure a proper balance of the doshas.

 

Many of the culinary spices used in Ayurvedic cooking are also medicinal herbs, and cooking with them enhances digestion, absorption, and assimilation.  Spices also provide a harmonious blend of the six tastes, which should all be present for a balanced meal.

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