In Buddha’s Kitchen: Cooking, Being Cooked, and Other Adventures in a Meditation Center

Kimberley Snow’s unique take on life at a Buddhist retreat centre exposes the inner workings of such an institution to be just as familiarly claustrophobic and amusing as any small college, private school, or summer camp. She brings to life what is to most people a mysterious, foreign setting in a way that makes us feel we’ve been there and met the charactersu
both the admirable and the annoying. With her earthy sensibility and gift for the merciless wisecrack, the author shows this world in a light that is devoid of preciousness but does not compromise or detract from the integrity of the spiritual work that the characters are undertaking. At the outset of the book, the narrator leaves behind her life as a university professor to take up residence at a Buddhist retreat centre in Northern California. Early in her stay there, she mentions to the administrator that she is a trained restaurant chef, and, much to her dismay, she becomes the center’s head cook. With buoyancy and an irreverent wit, the author takes us along on her surprising journey: this disgruntled kitchen worker gradually discovers (often by mistake) the gifts of patience, compassion, and generosity.