[New Book Introduction] A Bowl of Noodles Containing Monks' Practice and Life… Jang Bo-bae's "The Taste of Monks"
It is said that monks smile on the day noodles are served at temples. The name 'Seungsso (僧笑)' came from the fact that monks naturally smile while eating noodles as a special dish during their practice.
Jang Bo-bae's "The Taste of Monks" is a record of visiting 24 mountain temples across the country to find stories intertwined with this 'Seungsso.' The author met with 24 monks and heard stories of memories, connections, and practice contained in a single bowl of noodles.
The book features 24 different dishes including noodles with aralia shoots and cabbage kalguksu, mugwort kalguksu, celebration noodles, perilla seed kalguksu, Buril Hermitage noodles, watermelon radish kimchi noodles, apple naengmyeon, and red bean kalguksu. This is not merely a book that introduces cooking methods. The focus is on people's stories intertwined with food—noodles that evoke a mother's touch from childhood, noodles holding memories from the time of deciding to renounce the world, and noodles that helped endure arduous practice.
The offering kitchen of mountain temples is an important space in this book. It is both a kitchen where food is prepared and a place where practitioners take meals and center their minds. Following the seasonal noodle dishes and modest dining tables, one can glimpse the simple living and the meaning of practice embedded in temple cuisine. Recipes for each dish are also included.
The author recorded mountain temples over approximately 10 years, based on childhood memories of staying at a hermitage in the mountains with her maternal grandmother, who was a cook, passing through temple stay programs. She also serialized stories about temple noodles in "Contemporary Buddhism."
"The Taste of Monks" looks at people more than food and the time intertwined with that food more than recipes. It tells the story of how a single bowl of noodles can become a respite from practice and comfort offered to someone.
"The Taste of Monks" by Jang Bo-bae | Published by Mogwa Tree | 140 pages | 22,000 won.