Interview
with Mahiya (Zoé) and Christina

The secret of the delicious food served at Ananda lies in the joyful collaboration of its team of passionate and dedicated cooks, each one bringing their own special touch into the food that they prepare.

Here to tell us a little about their experience are Christina, Head Cook of the Ananda kitchen, and Mahiya, author of Il gusto della gioia (The Taste of Joy), the Ananda Assisi cookbook.

 

How many years have you been cooking? Will you tell us something about your experience?

Christina: My cooking experience began in India at Sathya Sai Baba’s Ashram, where I lived for a few years. All of a sudden, because of the lack of cooks, I found myself with the responsibility of cooking for hundreds of people – lunch and dinner, seven days a week. And on top of everything else, I had only a little knowledge of Indian vegetables. By the grace of God, everything went well.

During that period, I also studied the teachings of the great Indian masters and the sacred scriptures on what kind of diet is suitable for awakening our spiritual lives and maintaining our health. I tried everything on myself, and therefore, little by little, gained experience.

Mahiya: I became interested in cooking in the summer of 2000 when I was at Ananda Village in California. It was a unique and very interesting experience, in some ways similar to Christina’s. I was supposed to spend three months as an assistant cook, but due to both cooks getting sick at the same time, I was all of a sudden promoted to a head cook, and had to prepare meals for sixty people. At first, I panicked; then I decided to accept the challenge and, supported by the people in charge of the retreat and guided by a cookbook, I made it through. And from then on, it went pretty well.

By the time I arrived at Ananda Assisi, I already had a little experience under my belt. Still, new challenges awaited me. I was ready to trust in a cookbook to help me with the Italian dishes, but here at our center, we had none. The recipes were created from the cook’s experience, and after a while, I learned to really cook, and to be creative. I learned which foods and spices can be mixed together, and with what result.

Here at Ananda Assisi, we hardly ever eat the same thing twice, since each dish is created from the intuitive experience of the cook, instead of by following a recipe.

What inspired you to create Il gusto della gioia?

Mahiya: IIn the beginning, it was the continual requests of the guests. In the kitchen, there’s always someone appearing at the door, with compliments, and insisting on getting certain recipes, or wanting to take home some bread for the family to taste. People would say to us, “Why don’t you guys make a recipe book - everyone would buy it?!” “That’s a great idea!” we would say, “maybe we’ll get round to it in the future.” But we never did. After this had gone on for years and years I finally realised that, if I didn’t write a cookbook, nobody would. Although the others were fantastic cooks, I was the only one organised and precise enough to measure ingredients and write things down! And so I began.

In the beginning, although I included a little theory in the first pages of the book, my main focus was on providing recipes. When the book had made substantial progress, Tejindra, a friend of mine, read the first draft. Although he appreciated the recipes, he was enraptured by the theory (which outlined the teachings that Paramhansa Yogananda gave on diet), and encouraged me to write more. I realised he was right. As a result, Il gusto della gioia began its transformation from a recipe book into a true guidebook which takes you step-by-step through the basic principles of healthy, spiritual eating, and helps you to make simple, positive changes to your diet that will help you to experience wellness on all levels: physical, emotional and spiritual. Although the book is currently only available in Italian, we are hoping to publish it in English too.

You can read more about the contents of Il gusto della gioia, and also order it online, by following the link to the Ananda Edizioni page: Il gusto della gioia.

It’s a real pleasure for us to be able to present this book because we’re deeply committed to cooking healthy, and at the same time tasty, meals. And above all, we concentrate on the vibration of the food.

Are the vibrations so very important?

Christina: Yes, they are. Not everyone knows that food not only affects our physical bodies, but also affects our minds and emotions. The subtle parts, in fact, become thoughts. Eating the correct food, therefore, works as an instrument to purify the mind and the negative parts of our personality. Also, the person who cooks is very important, because his or her vibrations enter the food and influence whoever eats it. There are many aspects to food, from the spiritual point of view, that we in the West ignore, but which are known by everyone in the East, especially in India.

Mahiya: Vibrations are fundamental. An entire section of Il gusto della gioia is dedicated to this subject. We would like our readers to not only learn how to cook well, but more importantly, how to cook in a spiritual way.

We are living in a new era, in which our physical and energy bodies are very sensitive to the energy around us. We are very much influenced by the food that enters us, and becomes part of us.

Can you tell us something more about the contents of this book?

Mahiya: Paramhansa Yogananda spoke and wrote extensively on the importance of proper diet, both from a physical and a spiritual standpoint. In Il gusto della gioia I have used Yogananda’s words as a starting point, clarifying and extending his explanations with recent scientific research and my own personal experience in the field of diet.

This theoretical first part of the book looks at the physical aspects of correct diet, as well as at the psychological and spiritual aspects: subjects that are little known about in the West, but accepted as naturally as the law of gravity in India. It also discusses topics such as fasting, special diets and colon cleansing, and includes inspiring stories from members of the Ananda community.

The second part of the book contains 150 of Ananda’s favourite recipes (all vegetarian); recipes which mirror the multi-cultural union that you find at Ananda by combining flavours and styles from all over the world. The recipes, as well as being delicious, provide the doorway through which you can start to put the theory into practice and bring about positive changes in your diet.

Recipe chapters include: Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Juices, Salads, Salad Dressings, Smoothies, Tofu and Seitan, Legumes, Pasta, Indian Cuisine, Soups, Breads, Desserts and Sweet Snacks, Drinks, as well as detailed information on how to grow sprouts, and make tofu, Seitan, yogurt and fresh cheese at home.

Many people still don’t give enough importance to a proper diet, often thinking that “healthy” food is not very appetizing.

Christina: Yes, it’s true. Many people think that. When their palate is accustomed to very flavourful and elaborate foods, they can lose their ability to appreciate simple and natural tastes. But, I assure you, there are an infinite number of healthy recipes that are also very tasty. Our experience here at Ananda has shown us that even those guests who do not follow a vegetarian diet at home are very pleased and enthusiastic about the food served here.

Unfortunately for many people, eating means satisfying the palate and filling the stomach. The consequence of eating this way is often poor nutrition. With the cookbook and the cooking courses we offer at Ananda, we hope to make people more conscious of the importance of right-eating without giving up taste or going to extremes.

Can you tell us a little bit about the cooking courses?

Christina: The courses we offer aim at helping people to eat in such a way as to preserve maximum health. In order to do that we have to look at diet from a wider perspective: the vital force in us, how it works and how to protect it, the vital force in food, the extraordinary power of raw food, the importance of the acid-alkaline balance, super-foods such as sprouts, chlorophyll, freshly squeezed juices, etc. We learn to take an active role regarding our health, using the principle taught by Hippocrates: “Let food be our medicine.” It’s about putting simple ideas into practice. For us it’s a great joy to have the opportunity to share what we have learned!

What are some of your future projects?

Christina: When I go to the supermarket or to a private home, I note with sadness that many people have lost the joy of cooking. The shopping carts and shelves are filled with processed foods (pre-cooked, frozen, foods in boxes to be put in the oven or microwave). People are in such a hurry that cooking is no longer considered a necessity. This can have serious consequences for the health and mind of the individual who eats like that.

The Ananda cooking courses not only help make people more conscious about food, but also inspire them to have fun in the kitchen, dressing in beautiful aprons while baking, etc. People who have participated in the courses leave Ananda full of enthusiasm and a desire to make healthy cooking a part of their daily lives. Continuing to provide this service to people is definitely one of our most important future projects.