Travel Memoirs - Let's do the Tsampa!

The crucial question on every Malaysian's mind during travel is - "How's the food??"  Unfortunately, Tibet is not known to be a gourmet's paradise for good reason.  The variety, quality and taste of food is often dictated by the fertilility and resources of the land of origin.  And Tibet, being the dry, arid, mountainous, province that it is, would hardly stand out as a food haven.  Yaks, Tibet's essential beasts of burdens, and more recently Tzors, the product of lust between yaks and cows, feature as the main meat dishes while root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots make their star appearances regularly.  And the grain of choice?  Barley, a hardy and enduring crop which can withstand the harsh weather of Tibet.  For processed foods, the ubiquitous yak butter, yoghurt and yak cheese are integral to the daily diets of the locals...

Yak butter sold by weight and yoghurt in pots....The stringy things are cheeses (which by the way, are rock hard and nearly broke my tooth!)

It is strange to now note that we really did not try that many Tibetan dishes during the trip.  I think all the AMS issues ensured that most of us stuck to "safer" choices of Chinese and Nepali cuisine, which was in abundance.  So, we ended up with only one major Tibetan meal, which took place on our very first day in Lhasa.  The theme for the day was Momos.  Momos are basically dumplings, very similar to the Chinese "wo tip".  They are usually prepared either steamed or fried, and come with various vegetable or meat fillings.  I found the momos adequate, though not particularly outstanding.  However, the sauce that they were served with was quite delicious and made all the difference - it was a little spicy and tangy, which made the dumplings really tasty....

Fried momo and the magic sauce

A more unusual dish was the fried cheese, which reminded me of the breaded mozarella sticks you sometimes find in restaurants.  It was pretty good stuff. 

Cheesy goodness!

Another dish that stood out was a murtabak-like pancake which was stuffed with meat.  By the time we were done with the momo madness, everyone seemed to have sworn off the stuff for good.  "No More MoMo" became the tagline for our meals for the rest of the trip - and we really did not ingest anymore!  So, the rest of our time in Tibet was a haze of noodles and fried rice, with some interludes of Chinese dishes with rice....

A foray into Tibetan cuisine, however, would never be complete if I didn't try a key dish which was a firm favourite with our local guide, Tseten.  He claimed that he wouldn't feel good the whole day if he skipped it for breakfast.  This was Tsampa, a concoction of roasted barley flour, yak butter, cheese, tea and sugar...

Roasted barley - which has a smoky aromatic flavour

Grinding the roasted barley into flour - the grinder is powered by a water wheel below the floor, which is fed by a rushing stream

Making the Tsampa is simple enough - just throw everything into a bowl and with your fingers, mix away.  Tseten did show how he could get an even paste by doing little deft turns of the bowl while mixing....

Tseten, mixing Tsampa

I tried the version without cheese.  Surprisingly, this humble little staple dish, which at first glance did not promise much, tasted pretty good.  As one of our group members put it, it reminded one of the almond cookies that you get for Chinese New Year.  Tseten claims Tsampa tasted like chocolate and espoused all the benefits of daily doses of the stuff - Vitamins C, B and a sunny, healthy disposition.  Just the thing everyone needs....