台風の影響で土砂降りが続く中、皆さまお元気でしょうか？
最近、氷かき器が台所用具の仲間入りを果たしました。
東洋医学の五行の考えでは、冷たいものを夏に取りすぎると、次にやって来る寒い季節に身体が温まりにくくなります。
なので、ほどほどに、美味しいかき氷を楽しもうと思っています。
甘みには黒糖、トッピングにお豆や蓮根、ナツメ、クコの実、竜眼、仙草ゼリーなどを使った薬膳のチェーは大好きです。
何だかとっても健康志向のように聞こえますが、こういう滋養のある甘みを摂ると身体が喜びます。そして身体が冷えすぎない。
精製されすぎたお砂糖や穀物を摂ると頭や身体の調子がいまいち良くなくなると、自分で気付いたのは１０代の頃。
その頃はまだオーガニックやベジタリアンなんて言葉は今ほど世の中に浸透しておらず、アレルギー表示や輸入の原材料への関心も希薄でした。
おかげでどうしても外食しなくてはいけない時には、苦労しました。
玄米、国産の食材を使った料理、全粒粉のパン、白砂糖を使わないお菓子・・・。
海外では一般的なマクロビオティックや菜食主義者の栄養学の本を読み、自分でマクロビオティックに基づいたお菓子を焼くようになりました。中医学、漢方の薬膳料理や、日本の精進料理の本なども読みました。自分の生まれた土地で育った食べ物を食べること、旬のものを食べることなど、それらがいかに身体と心を良い方向にもって行ってくれる助けになるか、自分がずっと感じてきたことの裏付けが取れた瞬間でした。
私は、お酒も大好きですし、今は白砂糖のお菓子も美味しく頂きます。
もちろん、かき氷も！
これを食べては駄目、というのは基本的に無いと思いますが、少なくとも今日食べるものに困るような国に生まれなかった恵まれた私たちは、自分が心から『いただきます。』『御馳走様でした。』と感謝を込めて言える食べ物を、自分の身体に取り込むことが大切だと思うのです。
そしてもっと大切なのは、そういった食べ物を作るための環境づくりです。
大量に安く物を作る技術を否定する気はありません。でも、本来もっと世界はシンプルだったのではないでしょうか？
土や水がもっと『生きて』いた頃があったはずです。
話が壮大になってしまうので、このあたりでやめておきますが…。
難しいことはできなくても、何を食べる時も、感謝の気持ちを忘れずに、一生懸命に食べること。これが大事だと思います。
買ってきたおにぎりだって、手で握りなおしてお皿に移して食べるとか、宅配や出来合いのお惣菜だって、器に盛って食卓に並べること。
心が豊かになる食事って、人の手のぬくもりが感じられることだと思います。
Summer is approaching....
During those heavy rainy days under the influence of typhoon, how are you everyone?
Recently, an ice shaving machine has added in my kitchen utensils.
Based on the thought of five natural elements of Oriental medicine, too much cold (Ying) food during summer hampers your body to warm up itself in a coming cold season.
So I think I want to enjoy shaved ice moderately.
I like chè (Vietnamese dessert) based on traditional Chinese medicine, which is using black kokutou (Asian brown cane sugar) for sweetening and beans, lotus roots, jujubes, goji berries (wolfberries), longans,and Chinese mesona jelly for toppings.
This sounds like I'm a highly health-minded person, but my body likes those kind of sweetness full of natural flavour. And those kind of food don't cool your body down too much.
When I was a teenager, I realised by myself that my head and body won't react well to too refined sugar and grains.
At that time, words like organic and vegetarian weren't infiltrated into society like nowadays. Attention towards allergy display and imported ingredients was weak.
So I had trouble finding the right food when I had to eat out.
Brown rice, dishes using home products, whole grain bread, and sweets without white sugar...
Those were hard to find so I naturally became baking sweets based on macrobiotics by leading books from overseas about macrobiotics and vegetarian dietetics by myself as those were common outside of Japan. I also read about traditional Chinese medicine and Japanese Shojin dishes (a vegetarian dish). Those books confirmed my thoughts that eating local food in its best season helps your mind and body to be better. My question for a long time was finally answered.
I like alcohol and I enjoy eating sweets using white sugar these days.
Of course I enjoy shaved ice too!
I don't think there is food you must not take in general, but I think it's important to take food which we can say "thank you" before and after the meal at least for the people who were luckily born in the countries where you don't need to worry about food for today.
And above all, it's important to make environment to encourage producing food like that.
I don't deny the technology for making more food in lower cost, but wasn't the world more simple in old days?
There was the time when earth and water were actually aliving.
I should stop writing now as the discussion is going to be too grand...
I think it's important to thank food, whatever it is, and put your heart into eating it.
Even you have bought rice balls, you can wrap them with your palms again and put them on a plate. You can serve delivered dishes and ready-made packed food in proper plates.
Food to feed your mind is the one you can feel warmth of people's hands behind it.