For more than 30 years now, Narayani dd. and I have been cooking under the guidance and supervision of our spiritual masters, Srila Sacinandana Maharaja and Srila Bhakti-bhusana Maharaja, preparing meals for the deities, Sunday festivals, seminars, and other worldly events.

In doing so, we repeatedly hear similar statements from our diners, our customers:

“If it tastes like this, then I can also eat a vegan or vegetarian diet.”

Or: “When I eat food dedicated to Krishna, I lose my taste for other foods.”

And, of course, very often: “Prasadam is simply wonderful!”

What is so special about it, or what needs to be done to receive such feedback?

Well, this food is, of course, prasadam, dedicated to Krishna, His mercy, and thus ultimately no different from Him.

But the process of doing this, of cooking, first involves the idea of a dish that one would like to cook, as well as the method of preparation, the skilful handling of the ingredients, the love and devotion in the activity, experience... patience and perseverance.

I would describe cooking as an attempt to carry out an endeavour in accordance with Krishna's words:

“To those who are constantly devoted to Me and serve Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can attain Me.” (BG 10.10)

Cooking, like many other things, whether you have talent or not, is a process of optimization and development.

How else could one describe it when, despite one's mistakes, shortcomings, and inadequacies, one tries to create a dish or a menu, experiences various difficulties and limitations in the process, gives everything possible as service and sacrifice, and in the end, everyone involved, first and foremost the Lord in the background, and then, of course, the earthly eaters, are completely satisfied. This means that Sri Krishna has accepted the service and sacrifice to Him...

patram puspam phalam toyam... Whoever offers Me a leaf, a flower... with love and devotion, I accept it with gratitude.

The wonderful thing about Krishna consciousness is that everyone is engaged in it to the best of their abilities.

Personally, as many know, I find it difficult to remember melodies or even to use them skilfully, but I find it very easy to create wonderful “sabji melodies” for the tongue with certain ingredients.

Putting together entire menus as compositions of different flavours, setting culinary counterpoints, using spice combinations to accompany various vegetables, leaving a subtle impression on the palate, but remembering...we are not the doers, and Krishna Himself, as He says, is the ability in man...

Raso apsu ham, He is also the taste in everything...

The decisive factor in this devotional activity is the attitude of the heart, the consciousness in service. Cooking for devotees is a great responsibility, as Harikesa Swami once said. The cook is in a position to control an entire temple... and in prasadam catering, to reconnect the living beings involved with Krishna through his devotional, spiritual attitude. This devotional principle, like chanting the holy names, can be practiced anywhere by any devotee.

Once, while driving on the highway, an evangelical pastor called out to me from side window to side window: “You cooked for us 15 years ago, it was so delicious, thank you very much!”

Someone else got a pakora from me to try, took a bite, his eyes lit up, and he said, “I had that 40 years ago in Hamburg, on the Elbe, there were disciples who were distributing it.”

Someone got prasadam, and I said to him, “Now you only have to take a maximum of 700 births to go back to Krishna”... He jumped up, beamed, danced, and shouted, “Oh, it's that fast!”

Or standing ovations from the Maharishi yogis, the experts in Ayurvedic nutrition.

To quote the composer Johann Sebastian Bach: All you have to do is hit the right key at the right time, and the instrument plays by itself...

...combine the right ingredients at the right moment and the dish cooks all by itself....

Everything is Krishna's mercy...

I would like to see much more cooking in our movement based on Srila Prabhupada's recipes and ideas. Cooking for Krishna, daiva prahita, inspired by the Supreme Lord, done for Him.

Look at how Srila Prabhupada cooks....

Your servant,

Vrajendra kumara das, for and on behalf of Goloka Dhama