A Work in the Kitchen (and a recipe for Chilled Ginger Cantaloupe Soup)

Chilled Ginger Cantaloupe Soup

Photo by Barry Perlus

Whether our community meets for workdays, weekends, or intensive periods, the activity of the kitchen always has an important place in practical Work. Like every Work center, our members bring diverse talents and interests which can all serve the common purpose of cultivating attention in the "mundane" activities of life. Gardening, maintenance of the property, weaving, and cooking all fall into this category. At the Rochester Gurdjieff Center we are especially fortunate to have several extraordinary culinary talents among us, who not only bring to our days together a rich and varied feast in every sense of the word, but they do so with attention. 

Something that differentiates the Gurdjieff Work from other traditions is the emphasis Mr. Gurdjieff placed on food. Not only enjoying it with as deep attention as possible, but also preparing it in a way that reflects the principles of this teaching -- a teaching that is for people who strive to approach their lives from all three centers: mind, feeling, and body. A quote from Views from the Real World comes to mind on the subject:

"Working like a man means that a man feels what he is doing and thinks why and for what he does it, how he is doing it now, how it had to be done yesterday and how today, how he would have to do it tomorrow, and how it is generally best to get it done —whether there is a better way. If man works rightly, he will succeed in doing better and better work." -Gurdjieff

Our kitchen is a place where members of our community come together to work like men and women of the Work. Meals are planned with forethought and prepared with sometimes very limited time to spare between the next Movements class or Sitting/Meditation. What comes from these conditions and this shared Work is at times much more than a meal, or rather, in the context of sharing time together as a Work community, points to how we can each be nourished in all three centers by an active Work of attention.

So much more can be said about the Work of meal preparation, and so many parallels can be made between the discipline, experience, and unexpected in-the-moment challenges of cooking, and the process of inner Work. These are topics for another day. For today, in the heart of summer here in Western NY, I'd like to share a tasty recipe developed by our Kitchen team during one of the many summer intensive periods together. 

Hope you enjoy it.

Chilled Ginger Cantaloupe Soup

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 cantaloupe

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

Juice of one half lemon

1 tablespoon honey, or to taste

Pinch of salt

¼ cup half and half

3 teaspoons candied ginger, finely minced

Instructions:

1. Peel and seed the cantaloupe and cut into chunks.

2. Place it in a blender or food processor with the fresh ginger, lemon juice, and honey, and process until completely smooth.

3. Add the half and half and blend until combined.

4. Taste and adjust the amounts of honey, fresh ginger, and lemon juice, as desired.

5. Place in refrigerator until well chilled.

6. Garnish with the candied ginger pieces before serving.