Food and Brown Play-Dough... it's all the same!

November 14, 2009
Today the principal invited me to eat breakfast with his family. Well, things didn’t quite work out, but I ended up eating at the school hostel with him. There are 45 kids who live at the school all the time, so the cook there is amazing! Anyway, I show up, knowing that I’m going to leave completely stuffed! And I was so right :).

I was handed a huge plate heaping with rice, fried potatoes, and this hot, very spicy pickled relish. Then, there was a plate of fresh sliced cucumbers, carrots, and white radishes on the side. And to finish it off, there was a bowl of spicy chicken. To the principal’s surprise, I dug in with my hands, and he was rather pleased by that! I ate and ate and finally was close to finished when the cook materialized with another heaping serving of rice and potatoes! I was so full, and said “No no! Pukio!” which means “I’m finished!” She just laughed and said “Torre.” which means “Just a little.” To my dismay, the food piled right back on, and I just looked at my new carbs to devour. The principal (who’s a short but large man) just inhaled his food, and finished when I was only halfway through my seconds. He laughed and told me just to finish it at my slow speed. So I worked very hard and finished it all off. I was so proud of myself! It really was incredibly good, though, it was just too much at once!

I decided to give my body all day to work that off, and I didn’t have the typical afternoon snack (which was just as well as we went to FRUITS today!). When we got home, I smelled the amazingness that is Didi’s cooking, which aroused my hunger once again! When she walked in with the pot of food, I did a double take. Instead of the typical curry, there was this mountain of brown play-dough. Ok, maybe not, but it really looked like it. And the kids all flew into a frenzy at the sight of it. “Sister sister! That’s Nepal’s national food!” Great, I thought... I wonder what that is?! Didi smiled and handed me a crusty edge of the play-dough to eat. I cautiously eyed it, contemplating the cost of eating this unknown creation. I decided that if it’s the national food it can’t kill me, so I tried it, and it pretty much tasted like crusty nothingness. No salt, no seasonings, nothing.

But then with dinner, the boys taught me how to really eat it. You dip it into the “soup” drippings that the chicken’s cooked in, which I LOVE. It’s this spicy broth with vegetables and chilies and it’s soo good! So, I dipped it in, and the broth made everything good. Dip, swallow, don’t chew or bite. Those were my instructions. I’ve eaten entire meals without chewing (occasionally the boys “challenge” me to see who can finish their food fastest) in 2-3 minutes flat (I know, my digestive system’s going to be shot when I get home!). But this was a whole new level of no chewing!

I finished and wandered into the kitchen to attempt to find out what this brown play-dough really was. Aunty told me that it’s Brown mountain rice (I guess they mush it up?!) and was surprised that I liked it! It’s all in the chicken broth! It makes all things good :). So, I’ve now had the honor of eating the National Nepali food! So, if I hand you a plate of brown play-dough when I get home with a bowl of soup on the side, just give it a chance! You might just enjoy it...