As Winter gives way to Spring and the digestive system takes a break, I can't help but think about colours. The seasonal junctions are a time of the year when we naturally crave less food and it is at times like these that colors play an important role in meal planning. Its not so much about eating the right colors but more about ensuring the colors we eat are appetizing and set the right tone.
Now I have always loved clicking pictures of the ingredients I cook with as I do of the food I cook and serve, because it should look right and it should look inviting and balanced.
I cook very simple food with simple ingredients and basic spices, I don't use chillies a lot. I also do not use fancy plates or spend much time decorating. I click as I serve.
But I do like to see colors and textures that look beautiful besides being appetizing and nourishing. We all have our own ideas about the energies expressed by different colors. Our attraction and repulsion towards certain colors is also indicative of our bodily needs.
While reds and oranges are energizing and inviting, yellows can be stimulating or suppressing for the appetite based on the mood, texture, time, etc. Red and Orange are also the colors of the Muladhara Chakra and Swadhisthana Chakra, the spaces that generate our instincts for survival and creative efforts. Too much or too litte of these colors in the diet can block our access to or starve these instincts. Yellow is what creates the balance.
Think about how nature communicates the characteristics of yellow to us.. when leaves start turning yellow, its an indication of the arrival of fall winter (Vata season) but when yellow flowers start blooming, it indicates arrival of spring summer (Kapha season). And when fruits are yellow, it indicates an arrival of the peak of summer. Then yellows slowly turn to oranges and reds giving another message about the changes in the natural phenomenon governing all life. Its little wonder that majority of our foods fall in the range of these colors.
Greens can cure or balance everything. Green can seem so refreshing and look so full of life and health at all times.
The slightly Darker shades of colors all the way upto Browns also add that little bit of earthiness for maturity or understanding of the complex things in life.
Black, the color of darkness, is a very complex color to understand when it comes to food, it is that which reflects no light but retains a lot. A lot of the blacks we use are mostly seen in very small quantities in most dishes, which is perhaps the best way to include the quintessential blacks in your diet. Think of the faint black spot on a well toasted bread, blackpepper sprinkled over cheese or like the specks of mustard seeds, nigella or sesame seeds in Indian curry dishes and naans. Or olives on a pizza. Most dishes are incomplete without the tiny specks of black.
Whites on the other hand, reflects all light without retaining a lot. Whites are hence mostly for liberation and balancing of all the other worldly desires and longings created by food and life. Think of Milk, Yogurt, White Rice, White Bread, Raddish within a colorful salad, Salt, Sugar, etc.
White gives rise to a multitude of essential culinary tints like pink, wheat, etc I could just go on.
Each ingredient has its own set of different characteristics and its colour is still a good indication of how it should be used to get the desired effect in any dish. Color and Tone also indicates heath.
We often underestimate the importance of black (& probably overestimate that of white) in our diet. If White is Sattva, black is Tamas, bright is sattva, dark is tamas, tints are sattva, shades are tamas (and all the other colours in between represent different levels of rajas) so we still need black or tamas in small amounts in our diet dependent on many other factors like ahar, vihar, achar, vichar. For those who do not include enough blacks or crave more blacks due to any reason regularly, get into the unnecessarily wasteful or even harmful habit of having tea every morning and evening. I like a cup of tea occassionally but say unnecessary because for most people tea is a daily necessity and people assert the need for it without really understanding the needs of their body.
Like they say when we eat we don't just take in the nutrients of the foods, we also absorb the karmas of the plants or its parts or lives we consume, we absorb the environment in which we consume food and one doesn't always see these things in their plate but the food has its way of communicating its intentions through all six senses. The sight of foods being one such important communication tool.
Now I have always loved clicking pictures of the ingredients I cook with as I do of the food I cook and serve, because it should look right and it should look inviting and balanced.
I cook very simple food with simple ingredients and basic spices, I don't use chillies a lot. I also do not use fancy plates or spend much time decorating. I click as I serve.
But I do like to see colors and textures that look beautiful besides being appetizing and nourishing. We all have our own ideas about the energies expressed by different colors. Our attraction and repulsion towards certain colors is also indicative of our bodily needs.
While reds and oranges are energizing and inviting, yellows can be stimulating or suppressing for the appetite based on the mood, texture, time, etc. Red and Orange are also the colors of the Muladhara Chakra and Swadhisthana Chakra, the spaces that generate our instincts for survival and creative efforts. Too much or too litte of these colors in the diet can block our access to or starve these instincts. Yellow is what creates the balance.
Think about how nature communicates the characteristics of yellow to us.. when leaves start turning yellow, its an indication of the arrival of fall winter (Vata season) but when yellow flowers start blooming, it indicates arrival of spring summer (Kapha season). And when fruits are yellow, it indicates an arrival of the peak of summer. Then yellows slowly turn to oranges and reds giving another message about the changes in the natural phenomenon governing all life. Its little wonder that majority of our foods fall in the range of these colors.
While blues and violets are for curing specific health conditions,
Greens can cure or balance everything. Green can seem so refreshing and look so full of life and health at all times.
The slightly Darker shades of colors all the way upto Browns also add that little bit of earthiness for maturity or understanding of the complex things in life.
But Greens are also versitile like yellows, they can be balancing, intellectually stimulating too and indicate a balance of extreme opposites. Green is the color of new life, the color of Spring, the color of new growth. They say water is responsible for our tastebuds, everything that we can taste has water in it. And though water is colorless, green is the only color directly connected to water. Leaves are green when the plant has been watered well. And waterstress in a plant is first noticed through discoloration of leaves just as Springtime is first noticed when feilds get greener. Just as Fall is noticed when leaves lose the green and winter is first noticed when everything starts looking darker.
Black, the color of darkness, is a very complex color to understand when it comes to food, it is that which reflects no light but retains a lot. A lot of the blacks we use are mostly seen in very small quantities in most dishes, which is perhaps the best way to include the quintessential blacks in your diet. Think of the faint black spot on a well toasted bread, blackpepper sprinkled over cheese or like the specks of mustard seeds, nigella or sesame seeds in Indian curry dishes and naans. Or olives on a pizza. Most dishes are incomplete without the tiny specks of black.
Whites on the other hand, reflects all light without retaining a lot. Whites are hence mostly for liberation and balancing of all the other worldly desires and longings created by food and life. Think of Milk, Yogurt, White Rice, White Bread, Raddish within a colorful salad, Salt, Sugar, etc.
White gives rise to a multitude of essential culinary tints like pink, wheat, etc I could just go on.
Each ingredient has its own set of different characteristics and its colour is still a good indication of how it should be used to get the desired effect in any dish. Color and Tone also indicates heath.
We often underestimate the importance of black (& probably overestimate that of white) in our diet. If White is Sattva, black is Tamas, bright is sattva, dark is tamas, tints are sattva, shades are tamas (and all the other colours in between represent different levels of rajas) so we still need black or tamas in small amounts in our diet dependent on many other factors like ahar, vihar, achar, vichar. For those who do not include enough blacks or crave more blacks due to any reason regularly, get into the unnecessarily wasteful or even harmful habit of having tea every morning and evening. I like a cup of tea occassionally but say unnecessary because for most people tea is a daily necessity and people assert the need for it without really understanding the needs of their body.
Like they say when we eat we don't just take in the nutrients of the foods, we also absorb the karmas of the plants or its parts or lives we consume, we absorb the environment in which we consume food and one doesn't always see these things in their plate but the food has its way of communicating its intentions through all six senses. The sight of foods being one such important communication tool.
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