Food

A Tibetan doctor once reminded me that a fish would always be a fish, even when it’s taken out of water. He likened this to the Tibetan people, who have managed to preserve their culture despite China’s attempts to hasten the disappearance of Tibetan history since invading the country in 1950. Nowadays, the Olympic torch is shedding new light on Tibet, a land known for its traditional medicine, Himalayan mountain peaks (the highest in the world), throatsinging monks, and their leader-in-exile, the Dalai Lama, dubbed “the most influential man in the world” by Time magazine.

While pressure to eradicate the Tibetan language and associated traditions is mounting, the Tibetan people remain devoted to their leader and proud of their culture. Beyond the more fanciful fare for festivities, Tibetan cuisine is in large part the food of nomads who cooked simply and quickly before moving on.

I recently tasted Tibetan food, prepared in nomadic style, at the home of a Tibetan friend named Tashi Dolma, who now lives in America. She is a recent recipient of the Women Of Compassion Award for her work as the co-founder of the Tibetan orphanage and school known as Jian Za Home Of Hope [www.tibetmedicine.us/hope]. She took time out of her busy schedule to share her knowledge of Tibetan nomadic cuisine.

With the precision of a surgeon, she quickly cut up a daikon radish in mid-air, without a cutting board, and mixed it with bok choy in a soup broth seasoned with ginger powder, salt, a special prickly pepper grown in the Himalayas, and fresh cilantro. This herb serves as a natural antibiotic, but it was the translation of cilantro’s Tibetan name that I found particularly fascinating: it literally means “Chinese dead bed bug smell.”

The preparation of the nomad noodle soup continued as the dough was rolled into oval strips and then broken off by hand into small bits and added to the soup pot as it cooked along with the daikon and bok choy. I was told the daikon (the large, white Japanese radish) is good for cleansing the colon, liver and kidney. It is fibrous and detoxifying, helping the meat (which it often accompanies) to pass through one’s colon more quickly. “Unlike humans, lions don’t have colons they are made to eat meat,” my hostess explained as she added the prickly peppers, which are also purgative, with an oil assisting the liver.

Another fragrant, nomadic style dish was underway as spicy chili peppers, scallions, and julienne-cut potatoes began to sauté in oil (flaxseed or mustard oil are most popular in Tibet). As I feasted on these delicious vegetarian dishes, I was reminded that Tibetan cuisine often includes meat because of the harsh growing conditions. From a spiritual point of view, eating chicken or fish is avoided in Tibet, since they “fly” and are only prescribed medicinally. The general population more commonly eats yak, and their staple grain, barley.

In fact, barley is eaten throughout Tibet. This hardy, high-altitude growing crop is planted in the spring, after a blessing ceremony, and harvested in the summer. It is roasted in its husk, then ground by hand into flour, and stored in large sacks. Although the crop is grown only once a year, the tsampa, which is eaten at most meals as well as at picnics, feeds the people yearround in a multitude of dishes ranging from cereal to soup. It also serves as a paste mixed and moistened with tea, as well as an ingredient in ritual offerings known as tsok and torma (traditionally made by monks as butter sculptures with tsampa kneaded into it to help form shapes).

These butter sculptures, which represent the interconnectedness of life, may be burned after they are viewed—much as the intricate sand mandalas created by Tibetan monks are destroyed shortly after they are created. In both of these beautiful but shortlived artistic creations, the message is one of impermanence and a lack of attachment, which is a common thread in Buddhism.

In Elizabeth Kelly’s excellent and enticing new cookbook, Tibetan Cooking: Recipes For Daily Living, Celebrations & Ceremony, she provides cultural context, etiquette, and explanations about Buddhist traditions and food for spirit, as well as a wealth of recipes. “Traditionally, tsok consists of the ceremonial offering cakes called torma,” she writes. “These are made with tsampa, butter, sugar, and cheese, formed into simple shapes and colored red.” But food for the spirit is not limited to ancient traditions. “These days the tsok offered at a puja may consist of candies, potato chips, crackers, cookies, popcorn and fruits— anything that is enjoyed, easily acquired, and easily distributed. This food is arranged in bowls at the foot of the shrine before the puja begins.”

Among the ceremonial foods are variations on the fortune cookie. During the Tibetan New Year (Losar), many enjoy dumplings with symbols inside. While there are regional differences, some might find a sun symbol indicating luck, or white marbles meaning honesty, while a sheep’s wool reflects docility. Those who find drums inside dumplings are said to cause trouble among friends and black charcoal indicates a mean-spirited person with a “black heart.”

Tibetans also enjoy stuffed, steamed momo dumplings throughout the year. In The Lhasa Moon Tibetan Cookbook, Tsering Wangmo (owner of Lhasa Moon restaurant in San Francisco) and writer Zara Houshmand describe the process of making momos in different shapes: monk’s CUISINE momos in small bundles, crescents, and round. Their fillings vary from beef to vegetable to cheese. Along with the recipes, there are practical tips: “All the subtleties of momo-making technique are aimed at keeping the little packets of filled dough as juicy as possible. There are also subtle techniques involved in eating momos. The connoisseur first bites a small hole in the dough and sucks out the juice, then spoons chili sauce into the hole and eats the rest.” I particularly enjoy the assorted lyrics from Tibetan drinking songs, proverbs and rhymes found in this cookbook, such as: “Making momos is a lot of work Eat too much and your stomach will hurt.”

Today the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama, who only eats breakfast and lunch, travels around the world sampling different global cuisines while promoting world peace and preserving the culture of his homeland. For the rest of us, who devour his words about happiness, anger and compassion, it’s also an invitation to learn more about his culture. Tasting Tibetan food is becoming easier with restaurants run by Tibetan immigrants from San Francisco to Switzerland and Denver to Dharamsala. Then again, the cookbooks above offer a chance to create your own tasty Tibetan tidbits. Try the momos and you’ll be coming back for mo’.