Culinary Arts

By Louise Frazier

As a holistic community, whole foods are a priority for us at Camphill Ghent. Here is the story of Louise Frazier’s lifelong love of healthy, nourishing cuisine as a fine example of our commitment to eating and living well.

Food has been a passion my whole life long. My family had an innate sense for balanced meals; we were big on vegetables and light on meat.

Good food becomes you!

In the wholeness of food is the preservation of life!

I always associated food with love because we always had really good food. Food has to look good, taste good, and be good for you. I approach cuisine in relation to the seasons. Here is an excerpt from my cookbook, “Louise’s Leaves”, demonstrating my seasonal approach:

With the beginning of spring, our thoughts turn to lean and clean. In addition to household and pantry, annual nutritional cleansing has long been the order of the season in cultures worldwide. A set of dietary wellness methods Louise refers to as “spring fast practices” help in lightening oneself to meet summer and its warmth.

Lighter meals and sour tastes replace the sweeter, heavier foods of winter, lifting our spirits. In finishing up the stores of root vegetables from last year’s harvest, herbs are changed from the strong and warming to those more subtle and sour.

My interest in cooking has manifested in several ways. My husband Wolfgang and I started a restaurant in Germany where we sourced all our produce from local farms. It was called Sprouts, and it was open for over 20 years. In Connecticut, I delved deeply into the world of elder nutrition.

I created a menu for elder programming at a senior center, and was responsible for establishing Meals on Wheels in my region of Northwest Connecticut. Food was my passion even in my work. Belonging to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) has also been a priority for me.