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This is a German documentary profiling Edward Espe Brown -- a zen teacher who is also a chef. He's written a few books and lots of articles in different magazines and they are naturally about treating your cooking as any other awareness practice. His writing has always struck me as very quiet and tender and common sense.

So I was not prepared for the goofy kind of guy that he is. They cover Zen Master Dogen's: "Instructions to the Cook" and how you should take care of the food "as if it were your eyes" -- but it also shows Espe Brown getting really pissed off at an olive oil bottle and stabbing package of cheese because he can't get it open.

Some of it was shot at a cooking workshop that he did at a zen center in Austria (I don't think that they got all of his jokes) and three places in California: Green Gulch, Zen Center of SFO and Tassahara. Espe Brown was a student of Shunryu Suzuki and there is amazing footage of Suzuki Roshi giving a talk as well. And he gives a definition of the word 'sincerity' that I never realized.

This is an absolutely charming documentary. So so sweet. Highly recommended. Here's a link to the trailer. My only criticism is with the subtitle, "Find Nirvana in the Kitchen." I don't really think it's right for the film.