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When the father of the

Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan

(Yeongju, South Korea, 1957) was able to visit his daughter for the first time at the Chunjinam hermitage, in his spiritual retreat in Baegyangsa, South Korea, he contemplated with horror that they

did not eat there meat

and wanted to take it back home. "I made him a kimchi, he tasted it, he said it was wonderful and, surprised, he let me stay in the temple," says this internationally renowned woman who is looked

for by all famous chefs to learn her secrets

.

Despite leading an austere life devoted entirely to meditation,

Jeong Kwan is known around the world after appearing on Netflix

and arouses the admiration of food critics. In

The New York Times she was

nicknamed "chef philosopher" after becoming famous for her participation in the show

Chef's Table

, where she appears in a single episode of the third season.

"We monks get up at four in the morning and meditate for two hours. We have rice porridge and pickled vegetables for breakfast and meditate again. We have boiled soup, seasoned vegetables and kimchi for lunch, and in the afternoon we do our work.

We never usually have dinner, Unless someone is weak or sick

, they will take the leftovers of the day, "describes the South Korean on her first visit to Spain.

KITCHEN FOR BETTER MEDITATION

Jeong Kwan comes from the hand of the Republic of Korea, a country invited to Veranos de la Villa, in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center in Spain and the Federation of Cooks and Confectioners of Spain (FACYRE) .EFE

For three days he will be in Madrid to publicize

the values ​​of Buddhist gastronomy

through ancestral techniques of Korean cuisine in three meetings with local chefs, the media and an interested public. Its dishes are one

of the great exponents of world vegan cuisine

, which is why they arouse great interest among star chefs. "They have paid much attention to the step by step of kimchi, which is an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, and they want to know the millenary techniques of pickling. For example, we ferment soybeans in a process of about five years" , slide.

Among the press, the most repeated question is

how a character who tries to live without ego manages fame

. "You always do it to me. I identify myself only as a nun and not as a chef, although

I believe that we can save the environment through cooking

. For this, a life of respect and non-violence is important, in which a change from the inside out. First, with yourself and, with that vision, go out into the world. Now we have a health crisis that is everyone's fault.

When you take care of yourself and eat well, you make the world more sustainable

.

The food you eat is reflected in the energy you give off and even on your face.

That's why I'm here, not for fame, "he clarifies, while preparing a perfect menu so as not to feel heavy and bring a balance, of which he even takes a bite to modify the seasoning.

THE DISHES OF THE BUDDHIST NUN

Vegetable cleansing kimchi with tomatoes, Asian cabbage, bokbunja syrup, bell pepper and ginger.

Kwan says that the food in the temple is

a bridge that unites physical and spiritual energy

. It is not a part of life, but of meditation. That is why there are ingredients that are prohibited, such as some Korean vegetables, leeks or garlic. "For meditation we need a lot of inner peace and that is why we avoid strong and oily dishes that generate bad feelings. We have to put aside thoughts during practice, that is why

our diet should be an element of consciousness and enlightenment

to focus on our path from the void ".

Think that meditation and cooking are similar activities and they take place in a time: here and now. "Human beings are capable of creating a new food with added value from ingredients from nature, but that

creativity has to be free of greed to be valuable

. That is why it is important to reflect and know the life cycle of vegetables and fruits to eat them at their optimum moment, "he says.

As a good South Korean, she defends her sauces with years of maturation to make her vegan cuisine ferment, maintain the properties of the season and bring a new energy thanks to the process.

"I put the first energy of my life in each dish. Relaxed, you connect more with the ingredients."

One last tip to eat and sleep better: meditate, even for a few seconds and anywhere.

"So we can really look."

The nun, preparing stewed pyogo mushroom with malt syrup, a meditation meal for ascetics.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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