Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie

There seems to be a cosmic traffic jam of planets transiting Vrishabha (the placement of Taurus) at the moment! Hosting such great leaders of universe as Guru (Jupiter), Ravi (Sun), Shukra (Venus) and Budha (Mercury) is not a small task for a bull! Especially when the shadow planet known as Rahu in the Vedic astrology, is playing mischievous tricks among the honourable guests by causing solar eclipses and alike! The meeting taking place in the eleventh house of social assembly and gain in my birth chart, has kept me busy beyond belief for the past three, four weeks. But busy is good when the marketplace is filled with mentors, elders, networks, aspirations, realizations, regains and arrivals. It is a convention of progress and profit.

Desires can be devious because they tend to fructify sooner or later, often to our great surprise when we have already forgotten them. To keep myself on the safe side, I have internalized only one dear and valuable wish, which is unfolding in small but intense clusters during such periods of focus as now. The only gain I hope to be blessed with is the association and loving guidance of saintly persons and, with their permission, the right to enter deeper into the secrets of devotional reality.

I’m not the only one in the phase of renewal. Nature is suddenly dressed in green, except for the fruit trees that are blooming in pastels. Dandelions, violets and wild strawberry flowers are singing with clear voices in the forest choir. The harvest of rhubarb has launched the garden season. Growth is inevitable in all species of life. As human beings, we are so fortunate to have the facility of intelligence as a compass of discrimination. We are able to grow – not only in size, age and good looks :-) – but internally as a reservoir of eternity, knowledge and bliss.

Having been busy working with the micro- and macrocosmic parallels and philosophizing :-), I’ve neglected the blog more that I’d like admit. My apologies. I find it challenging to write about food from the point of view of my lifestyle in a way that would be relevant, both, to me and the readers. Food is, firstly, a cultural indicator. Because of the variety of values, a common language is not obvious.

How would you like me to improve the blog content? I hope not to sound grandiose, but is there a topic you’d like to hear my opinion or thoughts about? Is there something in my way of life and philosophy (please see the introduction) you would like to learn more about? I would appreciate your help in building a more personal and interactive platform of sharing.

Now that I have pushed the responsibility on you, take a deep breath and relax :-). Have a visual bite of the strawberry and rhubarb pie we ate yesterday. It turned out almost like a soft cake, because I added too much liquid into the dough as well as the filling. You may reduce the amount if using the recipe.

The recipe makes plenty of dough! From the rest of it I made small apple and pear tarts. They were served with chocolate sauce.

Thank you.

An Ode To The Mother Earth

The mother’s day arrived and left a week ago. I missed the opportunity to post a tribute to my favourite mothers in time. The emblem of motherhood is personified in the mother who gives birth to us, the wife of a teacher, the wife of a holy person or a priest, queen, cow, nurse and earth. In a civilized society they are always respected and protected. Unfortunately we have reduced the list to barely include the person who parents us.

In Bhagavata Purana, spoken by the sages in the Naimisha forest thousands of years ago, there is a narration of the mother earth at the dawn of the current cycle of time, Kali-yuga. She describes how the pillars of human culture – austerity, purity, compassion and truthfulness – are being trampled by the increase of pride, lust, violence and falsehood.

We have conveniently distanced ourselves from and impersonalized the mother earth in order to pursue our desire to gain her abundance without responsibility. In any other relationship such cold-blooded abuse would be regretted. Nature is not dead matter. It is living energy. The consciousness of a plant or an animal may not be as developed as ours, but it doesn’t justify our tyranny. To have more tools means – to an intelligent person – to use them for a greater benefit. By mistreating the mother earth we don’t only cause pain but break the hand that feeds us. Despite of our financial prosperity and keen abilities of technology, we won’t be able to replicate her when she loses immunity to our drilling of oil, cutting down forests, polluting water resources, pumping the soil with chemicals and slaughtering animals. To lose a mother for greed and ignorance is embarrassing.

Any improvement begins with a change of consciousness. We can upgrade our situation, plans, skills and endeavours unlimitedly, but without the change of attitude or focus it won’t lead to a desired result. In order to regain respect and love for nature, we must understand who we are ourselves, what everything else is and what our relationships are. What is sustaining everything? A harmonic relationship with environment begins with willingness to reconsider our false supremacy over it.

The recipe of the sandwich cake is an ode to the mother earth. Thank you for showing me the trees are the hairs, the rivers are the veins and the air is the breath of the universal form. You dress by unwrapping the darkness of night into the mist of morning. You are an advocate of peacefulness, tolerance and humility. You manifest the qualities of higher intelligence behind the creation, maintenance and destruction. I am your servant.

Goat weed, wild chervil, nettle, dandelion and wood sorrel are among the favourite edible gifts of green from the wild garden and forest. They can be used as such in a salad, smoothie and pesto. Another way of serving them is like spinach.

Thank you.

Artisan pie

Artisan pie is a fascinating way to describe a regular pastry with left-over vegetables, fresh cheese and what not. It requires some manual labour and dexterity, and provides an entertaining break in baking routines. The variable colours, shapes and sizes of vegetables fuel imagination.

Cooking is an act of assistance. A perfect cook is a servant who enables a loving dialogue between the given ingredients for the pleasure of God.

Sometimes I sketch quick studies, either mental or physical, of cooking ingredients in order to better understand their inherent nature. Universal harmony manifests when a form reciprocates with and enhances a compatible quality. For example, when water caches wetness or fire contains hotness, there is a perfect, balanced relationship.

As a result of happy baking, a warm afternoon light may sweep the table with autumn colours, even in May.

Thank you.

Doughnuts & passion fruit juice

The springtime fertility fest of the Northern Hemisphere, May Day, originates from the pre Christian era of pagan tradition. It stood for the day cows were released onto the pasture and bonfires were lit to drive away evil spirits and disease. The etymology of Finnish Vappu is traceable to the German Walpurgisnacht, a night of witchcraft, after Saint Walburga who was canonized on May 1st, possibly in AD 870. It was celebrated with homemade mead and dancing.

Although sima, a fermented drink, is still associated with the festival, the rest of the tradition has turned into a street carnival of students and working class. It is, along with New Years Eve and Midsummer fest, by far the wildest public holiday in Finland. Sobriety is an unknown virtue during Vappu. If civilisation was the reason of Christianisation of paganism, I wonder how successful it has been. Isn’t our modern culture producing another type of tribe, able to build tiny mechanical appliances while being disconnected, more than ever, with nature, ourselves and the Truth?

Sima, munkki (doughnuts) and tippaleipä (funnel cakes) are served on May Day. Although I follow a different, Vedic moon calendar of annual events, and rarely bother with Western holidays, I used the occasion to develop a yeast-free doughnut recipe. It turned out perfect! The doughnuts were crispy and airy. Instead of using milk to thin the batter, try carbonated water. It makes the doughnuts light and less dough-like. Although the batter is more liquid than the one made with yeast, with the help of an ice-cream scoop, it can be spooned into the hot oil. The doughnuts are bite-size and small. Using a piping bag it is easy to impregnate them with chocolate filling. After all, Vappu is a fertility fest!

Serve the sugar infused doughnuts with a refreshing passion fruit juice. It is a combination made in heaven!

Written on obscure pieces of paper, no wonder my recipes get lost half of the time!

Thank you.