This Is What Egoless Cuisine Tastes Like

In an era where the words "genius" and "hero" are frequently used to describe chefs instead of rocket scientists, there is one cook who does not include ego as part of her kitchen routine.

For this individual, cooking is a way to connect our minds and bodies with fresh ingredients. Zen Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan has zero restaurant experience and no official culinary training, and yet she's caught the attention of the culinary world at lightning speed. Her flawless use of fresh ingredients with skill, focus, and care have been compared to the likes of René Redzepi. The attention first began with one of the world's best chefs, chef Eric Ripert, a devout Buddhist, who first met Kwan while traveling through Korea. Ripert later invited Kwan to visit New York and cook a traditional Korean temple meal at Le Bernardin for a small group of journalists, but the reception of this vegan experience, as later chronicled by Jeff Gordinier in The New York Times, placed Kwan front and center in the food world.

In early 2017, Kwan captivated the world stage in the popular Netflix series, Chefs Table . In season three, the 60-year-old Zen Buddhist nun was followed around by a film crew at her home at Baekyangsa Temple, located 169 miles south of Seoul. It is there in a serene landscape where she lives her life with mindfulness and intention. Her daily activities include nurturing a vegetable garden where Kwan pours her energy into tending to all of the fresh produce that she uses to cook Korean temple cuisine for her community.

For Kwan, food is a way to share and communicate our emotions. "It's that mindset of sharing that is really what you're eating. There is no difference between cooking and pursuing Buddha's way."

Kwan is, of course, something of an anomaly when she's compared to the world's best chefs: a category typically driven by indulgence and desire. Kwan's philosophy on cooking employs the belief that eating and cooking with healthy ingredients can come together to create a clearer mind.

On a recent hot summer day in late June, Kwan stepped back into the Michelin-starred kitchen of Le Bernardin to cook a traditional temple lunch for 60 guests in honor of the upcoming Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. It was there that we had the chance to sit down with the Buddhist nun and discuss her philosophy on cooking with the five senses, how she exercises mindfulness in the kitchen, and why the ego is the biggest roadblock to creativity.

MUNCHIES: How do you cook with the five senses?
Jeong Kwan: So when you cook or when you have a conversation, your five senses must be open at all times. The five senses are: body, feeling, perception, attention, and consciousness, and by having these open feelings, you must cook using all of these senses in mi

How would you describe how your cooking should make people feel?
You must eat with a thankful heart, and when you're done eating, the food that you've eaten is stored somewhere inside your body. You must be mindful of what that food has done for you and your mind.

How does cooking make you feel?
I put everything into cooking, so I don't have the resources to think about anything else.

In secular life, it's often difficult to separate the ego, even in cooking. What is one way that one could try to do just that?
You have to think of who you were before you started cooking. Ego comes from the desire to be the best; to be better than other people. As a Buddhist, I do not have those types of beliefs inside me. I have let go of that. That's the only way to discover new things and be more creative.

Can you tell me a little bit about the 15-year-old soy sauce that you served today?
It takes a lot of energy and time to make ganjang (soy sauce) and the longer it ages, the more energy it takes. It's made from things in nature such as light and the wind. Starting from the beginning of its life when it's just a little bean to the energy it takes to create, sprout, and ferment to make the soy sauce out of it is what soy sauce is all about.

When we're cooking, how do you think food has the power to communicate our emotions?
It's really up to the individual in how you communicate. You have to understand where the food comes from when it was sown into the ground and then when it was picked to when it is being served for consumption. If I'm sick while I'm cooking, even the person eating the food will feel my pain.

The busyness of the modern world can make it difficult to try to live in the moment. What is one way that people can try to be more present in the act of cooking?
Just try to not chase after what's going on in your life and in this world. Just go with the flow.

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me.