World Vegetarian Congress Cookery Exhibition

SR No.: 035314
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Lilaben Shah
Publisher: Lilaben Shah
Publication Year: 1967
Total Pages: 68
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 6 MB

Page 5

INTRODUCTION
Cooking is an art peculiar to man as far as we know, there are no plants, insects or animals that prepare, blend and heat their food. At best we come across some peeling of skins and cracking of shells. The very early man must have eaten his food raw. But with the mastery of fire cooking appeared in its various aspects roasting, boiling, baking, braizing, broiling and so on.
The art of cooking is almost as old as humanity. A most important art it is, for it has extended enormously the range of human food. Many nutrients, quite useless in their raw state, became eatable when subject to heat. We could not provide enough food for all without the cooking fire and the art of cooking. No wonder that home and hearth mean the same to us-a place made sacred by the role it plays in our lives.
There are many kinds of food and since the body and the mind of man are made of food, the quality of the food consumed matters enormously.
Man is spirit incarnate while food is only a means to physical survi val. Our food can help us on our way to a goal or bring us down.
The experience of many generations has shown that man is what he eats. Exceptional individuals might have escaped this rule, but to the vast majority of mankind this rule is absolute.
In the multilevel and multi-form world that is India there are many social groups with varying food habits. We can easily trace the effect of a given pattern of food on the physical and mental structure and emotional, moral and spiritual culture of the people.
I shall not go into the arguments which put flesh of living beings beyond the range of human foods. Many have done it already and many will do it better than I can. I would like to serve the cause of non-violent nutrition by contributing to the art of making food healthy, palatable and economical. In a country as poor as India it is absolutely necessary to make the best use of every nutrient that can feed a human body. On investigation we have found that there are many