A Monk, a Neuroscientist and a Chef: A discussion about the nature of thinking in culinary work

An imagined conversation between a monk, a neuroscientist and a chef is one way of bringing together the various issues that my research study raises. The reason I specifically imagined a monk, a neuroscientist and a chef is because one of the key findings of my study titled: Thinkers in the Kitchen: Embodied thinking and learning in practice, has to do with thinking or the quality of attention required in activities that are largely physical such as cooking. A monk struggles with attention in her meditative practice; a neuroscientist studies attention (article attached), and a chef cannot cook without concentrating or being present in mind and body, while cooking.

It is assumed that physical activities such as cooking are largely skilled activities. That this is not necessarily “thoughtful” work or at least does not require “thinking” while working. Cooking activities require thinking and problem solving as my study shows (see example below). Indeed it is assumed that skilled chefs or experts work almost “automatically.” While the question of automaticity remains controversial, I would like to focus on this aspect of thinking or attending with one’s body and senses while working. How is the body particularly the senses involved in culinary work and how does this compare to what Epstein – a Buddhist scholar, practitioner and psychotherapist refers to as “being- time” or Csíkszentmihályi, refers to as “flow” – a full immersion in what one is doing, and what I refer to as “embodied thinking” - thinking in real time.

Finally is the sense of being present, of real time thinking, of focusing with one’s mind and body the reason why cooking and eating are connected with the idea of “home?”

Discussion Questions:

* How are cooking activities problem-solving activities?
* How would you describe the quality of attention needed in culinary work?
* Do your hands remember a recipe? And if so why?
* Does cooking ground one in one’s body? And is this why cooking and eating is often thought of as “coming home?”