Most kitchens provide food for the main circle. They cook the dish – rice- lentils beans etc and carry it down to the main area where people gather for the main meal. They are generally supplied by main supply that purchases food from money raised through donations or the Magic Hat. Other kitchens, specifically the one at Kiddie’s Village are supported by the Gathering but only provide food for people who are located in that general area. Mostly this is families. Anyone can eat there, but as kids and families get to eat first, there is not much left over others. Instant Soup is relatively unique as a kitchen. It does not provide food for anyone else other than those who live or will walk to the kitchen. When it is fully operational it is also the only kitchen that tries to provide food at least 20 hours a day. One can get freshly made soup at 2:00 in the morning. It is also unique in that for the first week or so, most of the food comes through donation, directly to the kitchen. It was not until the beginning of July that we were able to get food from main supply.
The soup base is made from large packages of vegan instant soup that are donated to the kitchen. It is great stuff, rich tasty and filling. Later in the Gathering soups were made from scratch with all sorts of vegetables spices etc. People come to this kitchen just to cook. I met two men who worked in kitchens in their other lives. They were a joy to watch as they made soup stocks and combined ingredients that I would never have thought of. Some people just made one or two soups and left. They probably had not planned on cooking but when they after eating, asked what they could do to help they were quickly were pointed to what vegetables were available and told that they should feel free to cut them up. When they asked what kind of soup was being made the answer frequently was “what kind of soup do you feel like making?” I never felt stuffed, as if I had eaten a bit too much, but I was never hungry. Eating nourishing soup four times a day is a pretty healthy way of living
I didn’t cook much. I helped set up the kitchen, making things like pot hooks to hang up the utensil, helped to finish building the wash stand for dishes and occasionally kept the fire going. I didn’t do much collecting of firewood. That is a young man’s game. Just one time I did some log splitting. Just enough to shame some younger folks into doing it. I think they felt sorry for the old man having to do it. I did get to share some tricks on how to split wood efficiently.
There are two remarkable things about living and working at Instant Soup that make it different from other kitchens. One is that there is virtually no drumming. Drumming for many people is almost synonymous with a Gathering. I love the drums, but they can dominate a fire, preventing conversation or singing. At Instant Soup the focus is on good conversation, wonderful debates and some gentle singing. Not all of the time, but enough to stimulate both the mind and the soul. Instant Soup is remarkable as well because of an individual call “Rich in Spirit”. He is a 70 year old man who lives in Florida and has been coming to the National for years. Rich does not cook, nor does he often carry firewood, he is just there; sometime playing his guitar and singing, chatting with friends and just somehow providing a tone and a direction to the kitchen. It is Rich who every year helps ensure that the kitchen with its big pots, large tarps and other assorted equipment gets to the Gathering. He doesn’t travel with it, he just makes sure that someone else does. Rich is a gentle man, and the kitchen that he created reflects that gentleness.
The soup base is made from large packages of vegan instant soup that are donated to the kitchen. It is great stuff, rich tasty and filling. Later in the Gathering soups were made from scratch with all sorts of vegetables spices etc. People come to this kitchen just to cook. I met two men who worked in kitchens in their other lives. They were a joy to watch as they made soup stocks and combined ingredients that I would never have thought of. Some people just made one or two soups and left. They probably had not planned on cooking but when they after eating, asked what they could do to help they were quickly were pointed to what vegetables were available and told that they should feel free to cut them up. When they asked what kind of soup was being made the answer frequently was “what kind of soup do you feel like making?” I never felt stuffed, as if I had eaten a bit too much, but I was never hungry. Eating nourishing soup four times a day is a pretty healthy way of living
I didn’t cook much. I helped set up the kitchen, making things like pot hooks to hang up the utensil, helped to finish building the wash stand for dishes and occasionally kept the fire going. I didn’t do much collecting of firewood. That is a young man’s game. Just one time I did some log splitting. Just enough to shame some younger folks into doing it. I think they felt sorry for the old man having to do it. I did get to share some tricks on how to split wood efficiently.
There are two remarkable things about living and working at Instant Soup that make it different from other kitchens. One is that there is virtually no drumming. Drumming for many people is almost synonymous with a Gathering. I love the drums, but they can dominate a fire, preventing conversation or singing. At Instant Soup the focus is on good conversation, wonderful debates and some gentle singing. Not all of the time, but enough to stimulate both the mind and the soul. Instant Soup is remarkable as well because of an individual call “Rich in Spirit”. He is a 70 year old man who lives in Florida and has been coming to the National for years. Rich does not cook, nor does he often carry firewood, he is just there; sometime playing his guitar and singing, chatting with friends and just somehow providing a tone and a direction to the kitchen. It is Rich who every year helps ensure that the kitchen with its big pots, large tarps and other assorted equipment gets to the Gathering. He doesn’t travel with it, he just makes sure that someone else does. Rich is a gentle man, and the kitchen that he created reflects that gentleness.
No comments:
Post a Comment