Edward Espe Brown

The first resident cook at California’s Tassajara Zen Center, Edward Espe Brown wrote the Tassajara Bread Book in 1970, and it became a canonical hippie cookbook. Since then, he has continued to teach both Buddhist practice and cooking skills—often at the same time. His workshops later became the subject of Doris Dörrie’s 2007 documentary How to Cook Your Life. (Brown is probably the only Zen priest in the world with a muffin recipe on Oprah’s Web site.) Now he’s coming to Seattle with The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections From the Famed Zen Kitchen (Shambhala, $35), which brings together old recipes with new insights. To non-foodies, it may sound like the epitome of California flakiness to teach mindfulness and pizza making, but for those of us who retreat to the kitchen to find solace, the two pursuits are one and the same. (Also: Elliott Bay, Thurs., 7:30 p.m.) JONATHAN KAUFFMAN

Wed., Sept. 16, 7 p.m.; Thu., Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m., 2009