Buddhist Temple Food Festival, Bongnyeongsa

My eyes and stomach deeply appreciated the Temple Food Festival at Bongnyeongsa, Suwon. The temple is known for its Buddhist nuns who have transformed the simplicity of temple food (strict vegetarianism while also not eating the Five Pungent Spices - onions, garlic, scallion...) to a palatial and visionary paradise.

Temple food has been increasingly popular in and outside Korea by health conscious people, and as a well-being and healing food regardless of religious backgrounds. Yet, while there is much to talk concerning the 1700-year-old Korean temple food (사찰음식), a person should understand the five criteria which concern the recipe and its preparation (source):

Korean temple food excludes all animal products. Milk is allowed, so temple food as a whole is not vegan while most of individual dishes are. Temple cooking is primarily based on seasonal plant-based ingredients, which are either organically grown in temple grounds or harvested from nearby fields and mountains. 

There are 5 forbidden vegetables, called 오신채. They are garlic, scallion, onion, 부추 – garlic chives, and 달래 – wild rocambole/small wild onion. These vegetables are considered stimulants which hinder spiritual meditation. Traditionally, Buddhists have believed that a person who eats these foods will suffer the following ill effects (source):

• His blood and flesh will be rejected by the gods, and the heavens will distance themselves far from him. 

• His breath is always foul; therefore, all gods and saints will reject him.

• If eaten cooked, these foods will arouse lust and cause explosive temper. 

• If eaten raw, they will increase one's anger and cause bad body odor that will not please the gods but will stimulate interested "hungry ghosts" who will hover around and kiss one's lips. Being near ghosts is believed to hinder one's enlightenment. 

• Today, however, many vegetarians around the world, including some Buddhists, may eat the Five Pungent Spices without reservation. For Buddhists, this depends on such factors as the person's degree of adherence to their faith, whether they are practicing Buddhism along with other faiths, and their geographic location. 

Temple dishes are lightly seasoned only with natural seasonings, so they generally have a mild, clean taste. Temple cooking uses a wide variety of natural flavor enhancers such as mushroom powder, lotus root powder, perilla seeds, etc. as well as temple-made Korean traditional fermented condiments such as soy sauce (aka jib ganjang/soup soy sauce), doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (red chili pepper paste). 

Because they have to work with limited ingredients, temple cooks are experts on identifying edible wild plants, creating many different dishes with limited ingredients, and preserving/pickling vegetables when they are in season for later use.

In Buddhist temples, cooking and eating is considered spiritual meditation. The food is made with care to nourish the body, mind, and soul of those who eat it. Food is considered medicine.

The vegetarianism comes from the Buddhist belief in "ahimsa," or non-violence. A few of the elegant dishes on display at the temple:

In an article in the Korean Herald related to the 2009 Temple Food Festival at Bongnyeongsa Temple, a striking comment showcased the nearly vegan Buddhist monks attitude toward eating meat and animal products (obviously honey is not deemed as an animal product to avoid) (source): 

Ven. Sun-jae said the act of growing, harvesting and milling the rice involves many lives. Hence, under the precepts of “balwoo-gongyang,” the act of eating rice, for example, requires an awareness of the value of life. 

“A honey bee does not hurt a flower when it gets honey,” she said. “It helps it.”

Since humans do not possess the honey bee’s ability to organically help what they eat, humans should express gratitude for food through “balwoo-gongyang,” Ven. Sun-jae said.

Bongnyeongsa Temple is viewed as a jewel temple in temple food cuisine. Long established and lead by Buddhist nun/bhukunis and initiated by the nun Myoeum decades ago, temple food is now being popularized with the public. Bongyeongsa has also augmented their role in developing temple food by authoring a cookbook, and while my friends and I wandered around Bongyeongsa, we noticed a table upon entering the temple grounds as full of books, and as we left a few hours later, a nun was busily and cheerfully signing the book on temple food that she had written. Wish I had paid more attention to the title but I got side-tracked by a book on the Dongguibogam, and bought it. Love the topic of natural medical practices and the Dongguibogam is a vital source. It completely knocked all thoughts of cooking and ingredients out of my mind and replaced it with healing seasonal foods and restorative methods. Yup, I bought the book and now have to wade through the Korean. What fun.