Hippie Food Gone Establishment

Just as boho defines fashion these days, it is also spreading into our cooking and eating habits too. Those natural seeds and grains along with fermented brews are becoming more mainstream than Twinkies and cheeseburgers.It's a definite trend but one with good and lasting results.

Christine Muhlke wrote about this in her article in yesterday's New York Times Food section.Ms. Muhlke ,a writer for Bon Appetit magazine, explored how food once thought of as "hippie" is becoming big in kitchens and tables all over the US. Like yoga, meditation,and the uber counterculture symbol, Birkenstocks, crunchy granola food  such as granola, itself, along with almond milk and kombucha tea are in more homes. Many have embraced the clean eating movement where kale reigns supreme and is included in almost every recipe. The question is why now. It could be that we're all tired of this technology and virtual reality and want something real eapecially in our eating t.Chef Geraldo Gonzalez, chef of the Manhattan eatery, LaLito, feel people may be moved to seek out the more restorative and "actual foods.They want the mouthfeel, aromas and flavors to connect them back to reality. His own recipes are what he terms "hippie Chicano" such as vegan chiccharrones and cucumber salad with brown mole vinaigrette.This is an alternative to all those bad foods such as meat dairy and starch, ingredients that cause brain fog according to Chef. Gonzalez

The "hippie" eating movement is also a backlash to the meat heavy, super-masculine style restaurants, according to another chef,Alissa Wagner, one of the owners of Manhattan's Dimes.Eating more natural and more green is a definite protest.Another reason she feels, is that diners are also more educated in how they eat and knowledgable about where their food comes from.Of course, restaurants are quick to jump on this trend. There is Tartine Manufactory in always food forward  San Francisco. It is a blend of roast beef sandwiches with green farro and roasted carrot salad.New York has just introduced abcV , created by Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for the abc furniture and home goods store Its' menu hightlights organic all vegetable dishes such as a ramen noodle soup made with Meyer lemon and curry leaf boullion with pea shoots and beech mushrooms and spinach spaghetti with broccoli, and kale, Cookbooks are also featuring crunchy granola recipes. Such big names as Martha Stewart  and Wolfgang Puck are jumping on this trends with books devoted to healthier and more all natural cooking. The rock star of vegan restaurants, the famed Thug Kitchen is also coming out with another cookbook that makes eating quinoa and teff uber hip.

All this hippie eating has good benefits.We'll all hahve heathier bodies and habits if we go back to fermnted and whole grain foods. It's not just a trend but a way of life too.

Dining and Downward Dogs.

Can foodies enjoy yoga and yoga students enjoy food? In some classes yes. Yesterday’s New York Times Dining section has an interesting article about incorporating the two. Dinner courses are being brought in by local restaurant owners and enjoyed after a sweaty hour of stretching and getting in touch with one’s inner bliss is it a good idea? Yes, if it replenishes a depleted body and serves for a better appreciation for the food.

The article written by Dining regular Julia Moskin tells of ashrams and local NY city yoga classes that serve food. It’s healthy vegan food, adhering to the Ahimsa belief of not harm others including animals. Some yoga instructors even bring a variety of dishes, usually tempeh mixed with vegetables and spices. Butters, fats and processed food is never served . Some yoga instructors do allow meat dishes to be brought and eaten. They follow the idea that what ever it takes to bring the yoga students to their nirvana , then do it, even if it involves beef or chicken.
In a way it is a good idea. I’m sure people build up an appetite after an hour of any physical activity. A multi dish buffet satisfies that. Another facet if it is that communal eating brings the students closer together and they can bond more. Also the instructors are introducing them to healthier foods and the Indian ayurveda way of eating and keeping th e body in balance . The yogis find out what doshis or dominance their students possess. There are vata - wind or air, pitta bile or kapha phlegm. Foods are invested with properties such as warming and cooling, heavy or light wet or dry.

Should yoga and food combine? Yes, if it means introducing the student and the body to healthier eating. It also shows more aspects of the practice and maybe enables students to have a better understanding of yoga. Not just stretching helps with enlightenment but eating does too.