WELCOME

Welcome to CUISINE MACROBIOTIQUE.

I have been reorganising my unruly proliferation of orphaned blogs lately - part of a New Year clean out - and have decided to consolidate a lot of material into a new blog under the explicit 'Macrobiotic' banner. I have been a zen macrobiotic enthusiast for over 30 years but over the last year, since (semi) retiring from an academic career (History, Literature, Philosophy, Religious Studies) I have returned to a professional passion for cooking. These days life is gardening, cooking and writing.

In the gardening sphere I am an advocate of the methods and philosophy of the English master gardener, Alan Chadwick. He usually called it 'Biodynamic/French Intensive'.

As for cooking, I am necessarily involved in ordinary cooking (Standard American/Australian Diet, or SAD as it is called) since I work in (and enjoy working in) a commercial kitchen, but in my private life I love macrobiotic cuisine most of all. This new blog is the place where I can gather my thoughts, intuitions and above all recipes and ideas on macrobiotic themes while also exploring the garden-to-plate connection with my large Chadwick-style vegetable garden.

I must stress that these are personal perspectives. Zen macrobiotics is not and never has been a set of rigid rules. Neither has Chadwick horticulture. Rather, it is an approach, guidelines, and it is up to everyone to apply it to their own circumstances. What I offer here is my macrobiotics, not some textbook orthodoxy. No doubt others do things differently. I offer my views in good faith and according to my own experiences. I urge readers to take what is useful to them and whatever rings true.

I can be contacted at: blackhirst@gmail.com