“How to Cook Your Life”

Because this is the madhouse season for quality films, when there is more to see than time to see it, it’s easy to overlook this unexpectedly charming and enlightening film, a documentary that makes the most of the intersection of Zen Buddhism and cooking in the life of Edward Espe Brown. A Zen priest and chef, Brown is best known as the author of 1970’s landmark “Tas- sajara Bread Book.” German director Doris Dorrie took a cooking class from Brown, a great raconteur with a puckish sense of humor, and was captivated enough to want to film his thoughts on connecting how you cook food with how you live your life. The perfect palate cleanser for the Thanksgiving madness.