Cooking milk and salt....

[Gauracandra]

I was wondering if anyone can help me out with this. A long time ago I heard that there are scriptural injunctions against boiling milk with salt. I was curious as to why? and what other culinary injunctions are to be found in Vedic scriptures. I was thinking there probably are various regulations like the Jewish Kosher laws. For instance, in the Jewish Kosher laws it is forbidden to cut vegetables on the same cutting surface that was used to cut meat. A friend of mine told me the reason was as a health code. They didn't want bacteria and salmonella poisoning from the meat to contaminate the vegetables. So I was curious what sort of regulations can be found in vedic scripture that describes how food should and should not be prepared. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Gauracandra

[shvu]

 

I found the following guidelines for cooking food to be offered to God. I am not sure if these rules are valid for general cooking too.

 

------

 

There are many kitchen rules for cooks and helpers preparing foodstuffs to be offered to the Lord. The primary rule is to think of Krishna while preparing the foods. Other rules include:

 

One should wash hands thoroughly upon entering the kitchen.

 

Foodstuffs should be washed as they are prepared.

 

Nothing that touches the floor or other contaminated areas, such as the sink or garbage pails, should be used, unless it can be immediately cleansed.

 

In all preparations only fresh foods should be used. Neither canned foods not leftovers are used.

 

Leftovers should never be brought back into the kitchen, but should be kept in a specific place in the dining room.

 

In cooking, one should refrain from using garlic, onions or mushrooms and from mixing salt with fresh milk (although salt can be mixed with other milk cultures).

 

One should not taste food during its preparation, not even to see if it is done or if it is seasoned properly. Krishna is the first to relish prasadam.

 

------

 

Unfortunately it does not say why. There are portions in the Padma Purana which talk about Ekadasi and strictly say that one should refrain from eating grains on that day. However the reason given is a story which can be found at the following web-site.

 

http://www.acbspn.com/ekadashis/ekadashi-story.htm

 

Although I could be wrong, I think most of the Puranas when giving guidelines do not give the reason. At best they give stories. I remember one Purana saying that eating carrots will lead to hell. I don't remember if this is for some particular day or valid all the time.

 

Cheers

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

There is one text called Hari-bhakti-vilasa which is basically a compilation from various smriti texts giving rules and regulations one must follow. There is one interesting injunction that states if one eats eggplant in a particular month of the rainy season one will go to hell. On the surface the rule seems pretty stupid, and there isn't any explanation given.

 

I have heard one explanation of this rule from a sadhu who says in that particular month of the rainy season the eggplants are infected with a particualr type of worm. And thus if one eats it, one will be killing many such creatures.

 

Those who have experience buying eggplant in the rainy season probably know how hard it is to find one without little holes in the side where the worms had eaten their way out.

 

Some of these rules are certainly only applicable to specific regions, climates, etc.

 

It would require a study to find out what is the purpose behind many of these regulations in the smritis.

 

[shvu]

 

Some Jains do not eat any vegetables that grow below the ground. The reason given is that in the process of digging the vegetables out, several insects and organisms are killed. This is a possible reason for why eating carrots can lead to hell.

 

Cheers