Br. Dominic Mary Verner, O.P., on Chefs' Culinary Creations and the Celebration of Corpus Christi

"'Compliments to the chef,' you tell the waitress. You never met the man behind the meal. He could be a big burly fellow with tattooed arms and a booming voice. Or maybe he's tall and trim, straight-laced and no-nonsense. You've never seen him, because the cook plies his trade of spice and heat, meat and blade beyond the veil of the kitchen's swing-hinged double-doors. But even though you've never seen him, you know a good meal when you taste one; you know when compliments are due.

"But as the waitress carries your compliments through those portals, you consider for a moment whether your appreciation really meets the mark. Getting caught up again into one of your more philosophical moods, it dawns on you that the art of a cook is no mere art to be complimented - cooking is the art of staving off death with style.

"Beyond those gates, which open and close with a shudder and crack, deep in his culinary kingdom, the cook sets about unlocking the esculent power of the dead to become a feast for the living. In his hands, by his blade and flame, dead flora and fauna are forged into a tasty treatment to keep death at bay. If you eat, you may go on living - if you give up eating, you will die. It is the magic of the cook to draw your mind from the somber reason for your meal to focus on the delightful taste of the remedy."

In a recent commentary, Brother Dominic Mary Verner, O.P., reflected on the blessing of a chef preparing a good meal and its relationship to our celebration of Corpus Christi.

To access Br. Dominic Mary's complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: Compliments to the Chef (4 JUN 15)