Eating is something very beautiful, especially when in company, on a quiet evening at home or in a restaurant with a welcoming atmosphere. And eating is much more than just providing us with food that nourishes our bodies and keeps us alive.

When we see the gracefully structured, gently undulating landscape with a field of grain above, we sense that our food is embedded in a greater order and harmony, that forces are at work on it that we do not produce ourselves. Soil, sunlight, weather, invisible forces of life, which cause plants to grow and thrive, silently confront us. And many a poet and painter has tried to express this magic of the interaction of cosmic forces with the earth in words and pictures in their own personal artistic way.

“It was as if heaven had silently kissed the earth, that it must now dream of him in the shimmer of blossoms….”

These are the first lines of Joseph von Eichendorff’s famous poem “Moonlit Night”.

And what intense flaming expression Vincent Van Gogh puts into his cypresses and golden wheat fields! As if he had perceived the sunlight itself and an unstoppable, even untamed force of growth in the natural phenomena, so that he could not help but artistically shape them in such an expressive and unmistakable way.

Eating doesn’t just start at the table.

From the moment my interest in nutrition grows, I am involuntarily led into a wide, rich and highly interesting world on many occasions, when shopping, in the garden, on walks through meadows and forests, in a foreign country with new, unknown or unfamiliar dishes and spices, at the market, in a restaurant, which gives me an idea that there are many creative, healing, wise and aesthetic possibilities in the field of nutrition.

What role do people play in the process of experiencing nature, planting and tending, harvesting, cooking and eating?

A very big one, in my opinion. The farmer, gardener or flower lover accompanies the growing process with expertise, hard work and effort, keen observation and love in his heart. In my opinion, food that is produced not for profit, but in relation to the plants, and in the case of animal husbandry in a real relationship with the animals, has a high quality that goes beyond its pure nutritional value.

When it comes to cooking, the processes of cutting, heating and seasoning, as a chef I have new creative possibilities, which of course require some initial technical knowledge. How much water for which grain, cooking times, which spices are suitable, how do I cook for a weakened or sick person and similar questions arise. However, experience has shown that such basics can be learned in a relatively short time. Preparing food can be much more than a chore that sometimes even seems like a chore. When I begin to see food as part of a larger process in which the cosmos, nature, people and the earth work together, I begin to realize that food preparation and cooking are creative and creative activities. If someone raises the time issue that cooking takes a lot of time, I can in turn consider whether it might not make sense to invest a little of your daily time and energy in cooking a good meal in favor of reducing the hours spent in front of the TV, tablet and smartphone? What we have mostly forgotten is that the person who cooks and the person who eats can add new strength to the mere food and the dish. You can find an opportunity to get to know such a creative food culture here.

And finally, how unifying and joyful it is when people from different nations cook together and everyone can present the specialties of their local dishes to their eager guests. I have often experienced that cooking and eating brings people from all countries together and connects them.

The unifying and ennobling aspects of nutrition, cooking and eating will be explored in the following articles from various perspectives.