Day 14 – Shigatse to Lhasa Airport to Chengdu
CY was feeling better today and had a healthier appetite during breakfast. As usual, my companions were ardent fans of hard-boiled eggs. I went for Tsampa which I had read about but had not tried as I wasn’t sure how to prepare it. The restaurant staff sensed my confusion and helped me mix the ingredients (roasted barley flour, sugar, buttermilk) and knead them together using a spoon.
Here’s the end result:
I couldn’t find an appropriate description of its taste until CC said that the paste-like Tsampa tasted like cereal. That’s pretty accurate I thought. Wait, I checked the definition of cereal and it seems that Tsampa is indeed cereal.
Whatever it is, Tsampa is the main staple of Tibetans and is often called the Tibetan national food. During Buddhist rituals, Tsampa-throwing is performed during festivals and funerals to different meanings. During the Cultural Revolution, Tibetans were forced to grow rice instead of Tsampa. Many Tibetans died of starvation as a result of the failed experiment. The phrase “Tsampa Eater” (vs “Rice Eater”) was often used to arouse the feeling of unity among Tibetans for political purposes. Maybe I can officially call myself a one-off “Tsampa Eater”.
