A Meat Eater’s Delight
By Kurma Dasa In 1996 Kurma published a seven-hundred page book on the history of the Hare Krishna Movement in Australia entitled “The Great Transcendental Adventure”. The book also serves as a biography of the movement’s founder and Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, affectionately known as Srila Prabhupada. The following essay is an excerpt from that book. Dawson Avenue, Brighton Tuesday 25 June, 1974. Dipak had...
What is Organic/Biodynamic Food?
By Kurma Dasa Organic/Biodynamic refers to the production method used to grow crops and process food. Organic/Biodynamic farms maintain and replenish soil fertility and health without the use of synthetic or artificial chemicals, such as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Animals reared on Organic/Biodynamic farms are fed Organic/ Biodynamic feed and are not given artificial growth hormones, or synthetic drugs. They...
Is Milk for Everyone?
By Kurma Dasa If milk is so beneficial, why is there so much controversy about it? Back in the 1950s, international relief agencies started to give out millions of tons of surplus milk around the world. They received many complaints that people who drank the milk suffered cramps, severe gas pains and diarrhea. The contention came to a head in 1965 when a team of research physicians from the Johns Hopkins Medical School discovered that...
Why no Garlic and Onions?
By Kurma Dasa One of the most common questions asked to me is this: “Why don’t you eat garlic and onions?” Here’s my short answer: As a devotee of Krishna and a practicing Bhakti-yogi, I don’t eat garlic and onions because they cannot be offered to Krishna. Here’s my longer answer: You may know that onions and garlic are botanical members of the alliaceous family (alliums) – along with leeks,...
Kitchen Vastu
By Kurma Dasa We all know what a kitchen is, but what’s kitchen Vastu? Vastu, or more correctly Vastu Shastra, is the ancient Indian art of living in harmony with the environment, and attracting the most positive influences into a living structure. With the benefits of its Chinese counterpart Feng Shui becoming evident, Vastu Shastra is now having a worldwide revival. It’s being hailed as a highly effective architectural...
What is Taste?
By Kurma Dasa For many years I have been intimately connected with all stages of the food experience: Study of food history and geography, recipe research and development, writing and testing recipes, growing plants and herbs, shopping and selecting ingredients, menu planning, teaching, and the penultimate, cooking. However, the climax of all these is, and will always be, the final enjoying experience.This is further facilitated by...