Hot Milk & Tumeric

[Guest guest]

>There are sweet spices and there are pungent or bitter spices and

>there are herbs. (This is not an exhaustive classification.) One should

>realize that certain spices have affinity for certain foods. Other

>foods, being somewhat neutral, may be used with a variety of spices

>depending upon what type of preparation you are making.

 

Herbs and spices are synonymous in my book.

No foods are 'neutral'. They all have various amounts of the six tastes

or 'rasa's, i.e.: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Pungent, Bitter, and Astringent.

These, along with their qualities or 'guna's, heating/cooling effects,

post-digestive effects and other special potencies make up the herbal

energetic system of Ayurveda or herbal medicine. All foods are

medicinal and vice versa. This is the science brought to us by the

ancient, wise and compassionate sages via Ayurveda.

 

>Generally, sweet foods should be used with the sweet spices, i.e.

>cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, vanilla bean, mace, etc. Milk, being sweet

>in nature, is best combined with these spices, especially if you are

>going to add sugar to it.

 

I beg to disagree...the reason HOT spices like cinnamon, etc. are added

to milk is that milk is by guna COLD, and thus hard for many to digest.

Adding heating spices to milk and sweet rice, etc., assists in digestion.

Ayurveda is based upon the proven theory of likes and opposites.

To counteract hot foods, cool spices are added; to cold food -

hot spices are added. This creates a sattvic balance. Sweetening

sweets is not a solution. May I ask what is the basis for your advice?

Vanilla and Mace are both bitters.

 

> If you are using the milk in a cuddy sauce, then yes, use turmeric

>(mustard seeds and other pungent or bitter spices) for you are not making

>a sweet preparation. Otherwise, turmeric is as out of place (rasabhasa)

>in hot milk as is paprika or mustard powder. It makes something bitter

>which should be sweet.

 

Milk in cuddy sauce? Yogurt is my usual preference. Tumeric has been

used in milk in India for hundreds or thousands of years. A little knowledge

can be a dangerous thing. We must all be careful in making any sweeping

conjectures. I fail to remember anyone suggesting we make paprika-milk.

Understanding 'rasabhasa' is not so easy. Black pepper is used in many

traditional Indian sweets, along with other 'digestive' spices. There are

many such examples of what would seemingly be incompatible. Ginger

may itself become a sweet, as are many (non-sweet) vegetables made

into wonderful sweet-meats. See the Caitanya Caritamrita.

 

>From my experience, having observed the reactions of many devotees to

>this preparation, the majority do not care for it. Krsna is pleased when

>his devotees are pleased and I have heard many moans over turmeric-milk,

>which, I believe, is because it is an improper marriage of sweet and

>bitter.

 

Try using less tumeric - a small pinch of tumeric in a glass of milk hardly

makes 'tumeric milk'. Add too much Mace, Vanilla, or even sugar to milk and

most devotees will moan as well. Krishna is certainly pleased when His pure

devotees are healthy and happy. Still, He is not bound to the whims of our

flickering taste buds. Each and every devotee is a unique individual, and their

tastes, needs, and physical constitutions differ. We must be sympathetic while

preparing foods to offer the Lord and His devotees. I pray that as milk is the

subject, this is the proper conference...and not 'rasabhasa'. I'm cc'ing to our

learned Kaviraja with the hope he'll find time to comment.