Cosmic Cooking with the Astrologer and the Chef

6. Ceres

Julija Simas (Astrologer) and Peta Santos (Chef)

In our cooperation with Timelords Magazine, we share with you the column "Cosmic Cooking", which deliciously combines the art of cooking with the art of astrology. Serves all. Enjoy!

Ceres ingredients
Image created by Julija Simas

We continue our cooking series, inspired by astrology and the planets, this time we get our inspiration from CERES.

Beyond Mars and before Jupiter we find the 1000’s of asteroids that circulate between them. Yet the largest of them all and the 1st to be discovered in 1901 was Ceres. In 2006, Ceres was reclassified as a dwarf planet in the same group as Pluto, Eris and others and is now very much considered part of our planetary pantheon. So, too, we include her here for our next inspiration for Cosmic Cooking.

CERES is named after the Roman goddess of the grain, agriculture and bread or as DEMETER to the ancient Greeks. She played a vital role, in ancient life, giving Ceres/Demeter the power to sustain life through the growth and harvesting of all plants and grains, particularly cereal grains. Ceres also presided over the foremost of the Mystery Cults which promised its initiates the path to a blessed afterlife in the realm of Elysium. Ceres/Demeter was depicted as a mature woman, often wearing a crown, and bearing sheafs of wheat or a cornucopia (horn of plenty), and a torch. Many astrologer associates Ceres with Virgo, for obvious reasons, yet Ceres is by far not the maiden Virgo represents, but one strongly attuned to mothering, underworld initiations and the mysteries of the afterlife.

Ceres doesn’t come with traditional concepts of rulership, or colours, or rulership over parts of the body defined like other planets. Yet as goddess of the grain we associate her with all grains, crops, cereals and flowers found in the fields, especially flowers of remembrance, like the Poppy and Forget Me Nots and the deeply symbolic Pomegranate. The pomegranate, the potent symbol of the underworld, fertility and sexual desire, depicted in the ancient myth of the abduction of her daughter Proserpina by Pluto to the underworld. As the myth tells of Ceres’s long search for her missing daughter, during which time no flowers grew and the fields were bare. When she finally does find her, it is too late to bring her back, as Proserpina has already eaten the fruit of the underworld (the pomegranate seeds) therefore cannot fully return to her mother. She has become eternally bound to Pluto by this act. Ceres bargains with Pluto to allow her daughter to return every year at springtime for 6 months, when Ceres celebrates with the blossoming of spring and summer harvests.

To cook with the inspiration of Ceres the “goddess of the grain and the flowering” is quite easy as there is much to choose from. We decided to put as much of the above symbolism together in the dish that would encompass as many grains and cereals that would work together and of course suit the pomegranate.

We chose to make a dish that celebrates the goodness of earth and her bounty, a dish that could feed many or be multiplied quite easily, a dish that could be varied according to produce and seasonal bounty. This recipe stems from an ancient grain salad from the Middle East, that gives the earthiness and freshness, crunch and heartiness that sustains and nurtures. The grains are called “ancient” because they have been grown the same way for 1000’s of years.

ANCIENT GRAINS SALAD

Ingredients for the salad
Image by Julija Simas

Ingredients serve 4

• 1 bunch coriander, chopped
• 1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
• 1/4 bunch mint, shredded
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup freekeh
• 1/2 cup puy lentils
• 2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
• 3 tbsp toasted slivered almonds
• 4 tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 1 cup currants
• 2 tbsp capers, chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt to taste
• 1 pomegranate, de-seeded, to serve

DRESSING

• Drain 2 cups thick Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 2 tbsp honey

Preparation

Blanch freekeh and lentils separately in boiling water until both just cooked. Drain well and allow to cool.

Use a fine colander or sieve to drain yoghurt for a thicker middle eastern style creamy yoghurt. Leave for one hour, then mix with honey.

Method

Ancient Grains Salad
Image by Julija Simas

In a medium bowl, place the coriander, parsley, mint, red onion, freekeh, lentils, toasted nuts, seeds, capers, currants, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix well and season to taste.

Place one layer into a serving dish, then dollop with yoghurt, add another layer of grain mix, then top with another layer of yoghurt. Sprinkle the yoghurt with cumin and then generously with the pomegranate seeds and top with any edible flowers you can find.

Published in: Timelords Magazine, November 2023.

Authors:

Peta Santos and Julija Simas

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