{"id":135,"date":"2024-04-18T16:45:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T07:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slowfood-indigenouspeoples-asiapacific.net\/?post_type=story&p=135"},"modified":"2024-12-12T16:12:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T07:12:27","slug":"pasang","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/slowfood-indigenouspeoples-asiapacific.net\/en\/story\/pasang\/","title":{"rendered":"My Daily Sherpa Dish \u2014 Ordinary but Valuable!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u3000Many people might hear about the Sherpa Peoples because of the famous Himalaya. But we are a lot more than climbing the Himalaya. We have our own culture and tradition, including unique dishes we developed as Peoples with Tibetan roots living in high altitudes of 2000 to 3000 meters and surviving the harsh environment for generations. Although originally nomadic, the Sherpas began to migrate to the high valleys around the base of Mt.Everest in northeastern Nepal in the 15th century, earning a living for hundreds of years as traders, herders, and farmers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u3000It\u2019s very cold in the area where we live. The only crops we can cultivate in our villages are potatoes, corn and some beans of local varieties. We have to sun dry and stock the crops in summer for use in winter. The hybrid varieties would not be able to survive in such a cold and high-altitude condition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u3000My name is Pasang, I am a 23-year-old Sherpa from Nepal. There are two Sherpa dishes with a taste of family and love I want to introduce to others. The first one is \u201cPhalgi\u201d, the main staple of Sherpa food, which is a soup made with corn and beans mixed with vegetables. But the main ingredient, corn, can only grow at altitudes below 3,000 meters. Dzemu, a village in Solukhumbu of Nepal, is the highest village where corn can be cultivated. In \u201cPhalgi\u201d, we add our special spices, \u201cYarmang\u201d and \u201cRomba\u201d. “Yarmang\u201d, which is called Timut pepper in English, is Indigenous to Nepal. It has an aroma similar to that of passionfruit and grapefruit, and it\u2019s super rich in vitamin A. It can counteract inflammation, better our digestion and keep our bodies warm.\u00a0 \u201cRomba\u201d is a kind of locally-grown garlic, which is a great medicine for cough and cold. That\u2019s why we eat \u201cPhalgi\u201d on a daily basis in winter to keep warm and healthy. When it\u2019s so cold that people think they can not bear it anymore, there is \u201cPhalgi\u201d on the table to spread warmth and joy. What a relieving moment!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u3000The other dish I would like people to know is \u201cRilduk\u201d, smashed potato with spices and garlic soup. We eat \u201cRilduk\u201d in almost all seasons. This specific variety of potato we have is small and sticky by nature since it\u2019s cultivated on highlands.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>\u3000Sherpa children start to learn about food knowledge and cooking skills at a young age by watching their parents and slowly taking on kitchen responsibilities. I learned to make \u201cRilduk\u201d when I was a kid, but the taste of \u201cRilduk\u201d made by my grandparents with their strong hands and love is always the best, there is nothing better than this.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u3000However, nowadays, there are threats to the existence of this taste of family and love. as the younger generations have been \u201cmodernized\u201d in a western definition, the lifestyles and working methods have changed, so have the ways people consume food. Young people are so deeply influenced by the western cultures and food. Also, diverse impacts imposed by climate change also contribute to the weakening of our culture and tradition. Because of the extreme weather conditions and the dramatic changes of the climate, the environmental condition to cultivate crops is changing. There are also air and soil pollution that not only affects urban areas but also remote places like Solukhumbu.<\/span><\/p>\n


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\n<\/span>\u3000That\u2019s why I want to introduce these two everyday dishes that Sherpas eat. I want to remind others that if we fail to take actions to sustain our culture and tradition, even food so ordinary and common would disappear in our daily lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pasang Sherpa<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Slow Food Youth Network Steering Committee Member<\/span><\/p>\n

Author of \u2018Sherpa Culture and Cuisine, Indigenous Ingredients.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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