A Zen Tasting: an afternoon with famed Zen Chef Edward Espe Brown

The Marblehead Zen Center announces the visit
to Marblehead of Edward Espe Brown, a Soto Zen Buddhist priest who is known as
the most influential Zen chef in America. Brown’s The Tassajara Bread Book first rocketed him into fame in the foodie
world upon its release in 1970, and has since influenced generations in the
pursuit of a simpler, more organic approach to food. As a priest, teacher and
head cook or “tenzo” at major American Zen centers, Brown’s approach to cooking
emphasizes full presence and awareness. His life and work have also been
brought to the forefront as the subject of the critically-acclaimed 2007 documentary
film How to Cook Your Life.

 Edward Brown is offering “A Zen Tasting” on
March 30 as part of a weekend of special events to fund-raise and celebrate the
2nd anniversary of the Marblehead Zen Center. The event offers
participants an opportunity to experience food with an attitude of deep
awareness, as well as to meet Brown. This “mini-gala” also celebrates the
Marblehead Zen Center’s anniversary with a champagne toast, and a reading and
book-signing for Brown’s new book By All
Means: a Cautionary Tale.

Edward Espe Brown began cooking and
practicing Zen in 1965, and was ordained as a priest in 1971 by Shunryu Suzuki
Roshi (author of the seminal book Zen
Mind, Beginner’s Mind, and one of the earliest influences on Zen in
America). Brown’s teaching style is both light-hearted and penetrating,
incorporating poetry and story-telling, and movement in addition to stillness.
Author of The Tassajara Bread Book
and editor of Not Always So (a
collection of lectures by his teacher Suzuki Roshi) and various other books, he
is featured in the acclaimed documentary film How to Cook Your Life by Doris Dorrie.

 Brown will also lead a full-day Zen retreat
as part of the MZC anniversary celebration. The full weekend of events is
billed as “Realizing Zen on the Cushion and in the Kitchen.”

ADMISSION:  
Cost $60, limited to 50 registered attendees. Online registration opens 
February 15 at the Marblehead Zen Center website  www.marbleheadzencenter.org

INFO: The Marblehead Zen Center can be reached at info@marbleheadzencenter.org or 
781-724-2508. Visit our website at www.marbleheadzencenter.org 

ABOUT THE MARBLEHEAD ZEN CENTER

The Marblehead Zen Center (MZC) is devoted to
the study and practice of Soto Zen Buddhism, offering opportunities for
sitting, teaching, and sanctuary to those who wish to find connection, purpose
and equanimity in the midst of our complex human lives. Under the leadership of
guiding teacher Joan Amaral, an ordained Zen priest from the San Francisco Zen
Center, MZC offers the teachings of Soto Zen as expressed by Suzuki Roshi and
transmitted by Eihei Dogen back to Shakyamuni Buddha. The Marblehead Zen Center
represents a unique collaborative relationship between religious organizations,
through its partnership with St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Marblehead, and the
MZC meditation hall or “zendo” is located within the St. Andrew’s Church building.