Sunny side of stillness: Why eggs matter at a meditation retreat

A meditation retreat chef sheds light on a lifetime of travel, and the quiet role eggs play in bringing people together.

Guests at a meditation retreat in the Yarra Ranges east of Melbourne sit down to enjoy a meal at the end of a long day.

For retreat chef Kate Ward, this is the most important moment of the day. As a chef with a deep interest in health, wellbeing and conscious living, she sees food as the foundation that supports everything else: energy, clarity and connection.

At the heart of her dishes lies a blend of flavours accumulated from a lifetime of travel. Kate trained and worked in the Dordogne region of France, alongside international retreat chefs. She has added to the flavours of her cooking with trips to the streets of Nepal and the markets of South-East Asia.

Kate says eggs are a constant in her dishes. She values their reliable, adaptable and nutritional qualities, especially when cooking for groups at meditation centres where vegetarian dishes are an integral part of the menu.

“It’s really nice to have a range of protein,” Kate says. “Retreats are often overloaded with legumes or tofu, so eggs are incredible.

“We’ve got protein anxiety as a society,” she says. “People are worried about not getting enough. Eggs offer a practical solution.”

Kate often folds softly scrambled eggs into a vegetarian Pad Thai for communal dinners or serves hard-boiled eggs with an Indonesian satay stir-fry.

Kate says technique matters, even with something as familiar as an egg.

“There’s an art to making a hard-boiled egg that’s perfectly cooked – just set, still a little soft,” she says. “Drop them into boiling water for six to seven minutes, then cool in ice water and serve straight away while their centres are soft.

“I’ll serve them halved, with a bit of coriander.”