started in October this year and will end in the middle of January.
I worked as a cook’s assistant – chopping vegetables, pounding spices and washing dishes – for Azeem Amarshi, the owner and chef of Dhanyaa, a vegetarian Indian takeaway 2 minutes on foot from the Lausanne train station. I only get to work there for four to five hours every afternoon, but they’ve been the best hours of the day these past few months, time spent learning, learning – and panicking that I’m nowhere near being deep enough a receptacle to avoid losing most of what was imparted.
I suppose it doesn’t “technically” even qualify as a real job, more of an internship really. But who cares!
The point is that I learned:
- how to prepare kohlrabi (and made its acquaintance in the process), leak, celery stalks, carrots, Brussel sprouts, purple cabbage and occra
- the most efficient method to do large quantities of dish-washing without a dish-washer
- all about rice-washing (not talking about washing rice here)
- how to wash and dry a chef’s knife
- how to wash and drain mushrooms and spinach
- how to get at the leaves of swiss chard for washing and chopping
- what goes into his wonderful chai masala
- how to make carrots-in-orange curry
- the simplest way to prepare garlic for Indian cooking: grate it!
- how to use asafoetida – basically, never in combination with onions and garlic
- the quick way to make the most delicious pakoras
- his tofu burger recipe
- how to make energy balls from “dry fruit”
- how not to cut potatoes
- the fascinating history of chia and how to make a simple desert with it
- about the various kinds of yoga and meditative practices
- also, a little about letting go, about freeing oneself from the weight of the past and the future
- about Gary Crowley and his passing of the jelly
- about living, as opposed to conforming to images, as opposed to the pretence of control
During this period, I had two week-long panic attacks during which I was unable to work or even let Azeem know when I would be coming back to work. Both times, he allowed me to resume work. Quite naturally, the second time around, he advised me to get serious help for my anxiety issues. So, I saw deep compassion in practice, not just towards me, but in his absolute acceptance of everyone as they are.
Update: I forgot to say that Dhanyaa closes definitively on Saturday, January 18th, passing the baton to Crock-en-Stock, a group of passionate “alternative-foodies” (as I tend to think of them), who dove in at the last minute to preserve rue du Simplon 13 as a vegetarian address. They plan to take the alternative logic further, use only organic ingredients, and offer vegetarian recipes of their own invention as well as those inspired by other cultures (other than Indian, that is), in addition to raw food supplies and vegan dishes. So, if you’re in Lausanne, drop in any day between the 4th and the 18th (Sundays excepted) and sample the amazing food and the “vibe” of the place!
Displaced 