“When monks sit at the table to eat, they say a prayer to bless the food. How is it possible then for the food not to taste good?”

Here is the step my step formula I have found to cook and eat food.

1. Try. Make the very best out of what you have to eat. Use spices and garlic. And learn from others how to make something that tastes good.
2. Cook with love. Cooking is about more than just mere ingredients. God blesses food even if it seems plain through the person cooking with love and prayer. I think Matt Lee and Nana are great examples of doing this. And I strive as well to be like them.
3. Gratitude. Be grateful to God and bless the food before eating it. I have never had a meal at church. Crosslife thanksgiving, St. Anthony’s lunch, FCA dinners. Something special happens with food that is prepared for the Kingdom of God by His servants for His servants. Gratitude and hunger turn an average meal into an epic feast even if it is just a Wendy’s cheeseburger.

Here is the opposite to have a terrible culinary expirance:

1. Don’t be hungry. Gluttons don’t get to enjoy their meal. They just get the pleasure from the dopamine in the fat and sugar that they are consuming at every whim. Sucking down junk food alone while watching youtube is not what a meal could be.
2. Make sure there is tension. If you are eating an incredible meal with people who are quarrelsome then the food doesn’t matter if the contempt is killing the flavor.
3. Be ungrateful. If you don’t take a minute to slow down and appreciate the fact that there is food on the table, and that somebody put the effort into preparing it, then it is easy to take it for granted.

References

Saint Paisios