Rawdyssey continues, Oh Mama Maia

Apologies...It's been a while since I've updated the food blog. So immersed I have been in crazy, beautiful, colorful Mama India (I will post on India soon!), that I didn't even post this continuation of my "rawdessy" in Palawan Island, Philippines. Here it is...

Edible greens steps away from the kitchen. The garden has kang-kong,
kamote tops, and alugbati as well as a herb garden at the center.

December 2012: 

I am at Maia Eco Village to be with friends during a time of shift and also to go on a personal retreat. For three weeks, I live in --mostly, barring a 3 short trips into town-- sacred simplicity. We live on solar power, create nearly zero waste by composting and thorough waste management, and eat mostly raw food.

The eco village is the heart-child of Pi Villarza, healer and inner dance facilitator, who pairs the healing modality with coconut diet or raw food. His vision for Maia as an intentional, self-sufficient coconut/raw-food community is still in the works with coconut tree planting and permaculture gardens underway.

Buko, or coconut, a staple food in Maia.

Some of those on retreat choose to be just on buko or coconut. The water and the meat can be very sustaining.

I choose to eat raw as well as have coconuts. Though I feel strongly that a hundred percent raw food diet is probably not for me, not with my active lifestyle and dynamic yoga practice. I feel that eating mostly raw for three weeks is still a very positive experience. Eating from the garden, I feel connected with the food in a very special way--such a different relationship we have from our food nowadays. We are so far from the source, from the land, from the people growing your food, more so if we are eating processed food.

Fresh picks from the garden.

I find that raw food preparation, which has the reputation of being overly complex once a Vitamex or a dehydrator is involved, very easy once I get into it, especially with the freshest seasonal veg and a few herbs and sauces to work with. It's all wash, chop, season. Finito! 

In all honesty, what helps, really, is having my friend Imee there. Trained in raw food preparation and also running her own raw food line in Manila, Imee showed me some simple things to make, which becomes my staple during my time in Maia.

Nick Brown, the local perma-culturist,
 showing off his find today: jackfruit.

Yoga, Inner Dance and Permaculture, Energy work and Healing Retreats are on-going. Contact Bahay Kalipay for more details.

http://www.bahaykalipay.com/

Here are some photos of the raw dishes Imee whipped up:

Papaya Salad-Papaya picked from the tree right outside the kitchen at Orange. 

Kang Kong (Water Spinach) and Kamote Tops Salad.

This meal I made! Left: Sprouted mong--bean bought in town but sprouted in Maia,
with tomato and cigarillas (star bean). Right: Coconut meat noodle with sesame oil and soy dressing.