Part of the cultural immersion experience in rooming with Pema was enjoying his cooking, albeit with only three recipes for the whole month. Well, not that I’m complaining, Pema is a fine cook, but as a typical American I find that my diet and cravings shift dramatically from day to day. Having been to a place like South Korea where EVERY meal seems to be fundamentally the same, I’m familiar with the idea of sticking with a short list of items that are proven “winners.” I don’t know if it’s the case living in the Sherpa villages, but our menu consistently followed the pattern of spicy ramen noodles for breakfast, potato pancakes with spicy sauce for lunch, and spicy chicken curry and rice for dinner, and all with Sriracha chili sauce and some Indian garlic pickle they were wildly flavorful.

In Pema’s early years with Mountain Travel Nepal he worked as a camp cook, so I’m sure he learned many other recipes to suit his Western clients. As a matter of fact, his company would send him to cooking school every year to try to keep him current with the unbridled Western tastes. One lesson that really made an impression on him is when his instructor asked the class, “What is the first part of the body to taste a meal?” That was certainly a bewildering question for the cooks. They thought, “Your finger?” Good answer, but not quite right. The instructor explained that it was the eye. “Your guests will first see how clean and orderly you are, then they will see the garnish and the appearance of the food. If it looks appetizing they will have a great appetite.” Tasting with the tongue falls down a bit further on the list, so your taste buds get pretty anxious once all the other senses have elbowed in ahead. To this day Pema endeavors to make his spicy ramen noodles with bits of habanero chilies visually alluring and deliciously aromatic, with a splash of chili sauce for a garnish.