With some time to spare between my classes and painting lessons, I decided to try a Tibetan cooking class. Today, momos are on the menu, so I excitedly make my way down to "Sangye's Kitchen," a highly recommended class on Jogiwara Road.
Through the doors, past the sign with a panda licking it's lips, I find myself at a large table with a half-dozen foreigners equally excited about the lesson. Sangye is young and lighthearted, friendly enough that the atmosphere quickly becomes one of light banter and enjoyment; the best kind of mood for those dealing with food. Laughing and joking, we start to learn how to make momos: Tibetan dumplings.
Sangye is a wealth of information about Tibetan culture. He shares stories of the baking powder that magically appears on the surfaces of frozen lakes in Tibet, a substance which is excellent both for making momos and for curing dandruff. When a Brit asks him, "Who taught you to cook? Your mum?" he informs us that it was in fact his father who was the skilled one, delighting the Western women with stories of sexual equality in Tibet and shared household chores, from cooking to children care.
But there's more than food and banter here. Sangye is a refugee who left Tibet about a dozen years ago. As with many of the people here, stories of injustice, politics, and peace are always lurking on the tip of his tongue. After a bit of prompting, he tells us tales of the kidnapped Panchen Lama, of Chinese politics and the Dalai Lama's peace talks, and of his own escape through the mountains.
Worried that his parents would fear for his safety and try to stop him, he clandestinely made his escape, with no one but his companion aware of his flight. Traveling through the mountains for 28 days, they made their way to Nepal, eventually settling here (following, like many Tibetans, the Dalai Lama). For years, he sent letters to his family in Tibet, letters which were only destroyed by the Chinese authorities. Finally, in a cooking class, he met a Western couple who agreed to take his letters to his family. Later, they returned to Mcleod with letters and phone numbers; Sangye was finally able to talk to his family, who surely must have believed him to be dead.
As we knead the dough, flatten it into circles, fill and shape these beautiful momos, we learn about the situation in Tibet. For carrying a picture of HH Dalai Lama, one goes to jail. At all times, one must carry Mao's Red Book, and when one has idle time, he must study it. Manual labors, when given a few minutes of reprieve, must sit and study the book for fear of the authorities' wrath. Every night, there are meetings in which one must describe what he learned from the book that day. Traditional clothing and jewelry was taken from the Tibetans, earrings ripped out of women's ears, hair cut off of their heads, with a statement about the need for leaving the traditional behind and move toward progress.
With ease, the mood travels between grief and joy as Sangye, a brilliant storyteller, takes us through his world, which hangs symbolically, on his wall. A picture of a baby, Sangye's son, hangs next to the large map of Tibet and the painting of HH Dalai Lama.
I will not give you all of the recipes that we learned (my reason being something between forcing you to attend these classes and having my own secrets to cook for my friends), but I will reveal one: the chocolate momo. No, it's not traditional; according to Sangye, it's a recipe which was born in his own kitchen. But yes, it is delicious.
To make the dough, don't follow a recipe. Don't measure, says Sangye, because flour always reacts differently with water. For about 20 momos, mix two cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and water as needed. Mix it with one finger (not all of them) until the texture feels right (it comes out feeling something like play-doh when you've got it right). Knead for 5 minutes, let sit for an hour. Flatten into thin (but even) circles of about 3-4" diameter.
Chocolate Momo Filling
4 tbsp oil (usually anything but olive will do)
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sesame seed
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chocolate powder
On low heat, cook the ingredients until golden brown. Put in the center of the dough and fold.
Folding is quite a skill, one which you really need to see in order to reproduce (I suggest youtube). There are several types of momos, but the two most common, the round one (representing unity) and the half moon (representing the mountains around Tibet) take a bit of skill to learn.
Steam for 10 minutes.
For those of you that know me personally, be prepared to eat some delicious momos.
On the way home, I dropped off two momos with Mittsu, who took them with both hands and touched the package to her forehead in thanks.
Through the doors, past the sign with a panda licking it's lips, I find myself at a large table with a half-dozen foreigners equally excited about the lesson. Sangye is young and lighthearted, friendly enough that the atmosphere quickly becomes one of light banter and enjoyment; the best kind of mood for those dealing with food. Laughing and joking, we start to learn how to make momos: Tibetan dumplings.
Sangye is a wealth of information about Tibetan culture. He shares stories of the baking powder that magically appears on the surfaces of frozen lakes in Tibet, a substance which is excellent both for making momos and for curing dandruff. When a Brit asks him, "Who taught you to cook? Your mum?" he informs us that it was in fact his father who was the skilled one, delighting the Western women with stories of sexual equality in Tibet and shared household chores, from cooking to children care.
But there's more than food and banter here. Sangye is a refugee who left Tibet about a dozen years ago. As with many of the people here, stories of injustice, politics, and peace are always lurking on the tip of his tongue. After a bit of prompting, he tells us tales of the kidnapped Panchen Lama, of Chinese politics and the Dalai Lama's peace talks, and of his own escape through the mountains.
Worried that his parents would fear for his safety and try to stop him, he clandestinely made his escape, with no one but his companion aware of his flight. Traveling through the mountains for 28 days, they made their way to Nepal, eventually settling here (following, like many Tibetans, the Dalai Lama). For years, he sent letters to his family in Tibet, letters which were only destroyed by the Chinese authorities. Finally, in a cooking class, he met a Western couple who agreed to take his letters to his family. Later, they returned to Mcleod with letters and phone numbers; Sangye was finally able to talk to his family, who surely must have believed him to be dead.
As we knead the dough, flatten it into circles, fill and shape these beautiful momos, we learn about the situation in Tibet. For carrying a picture of HH Dalai Lama, one goes to jail. At all times, one must carry Mao's Red Book, and when one has idle time, he must study it. Manual labors, when given a few minutes of reprieve, must sit and study the book for fear of the authorities' wrath. Every night, there are meetings in which one must describe what he learned from the book that day. Traditional clothing and jewelry was taken from the Tibetans, earrings ripped out of women's ears, hair cut off of their heads, with a statement about the need for leaving the traditional behind and move toward progress.
With ease, the mood travels between grief and joy as Sangye, a brilliant storyteller, takes us through his world, which hangs symbolically, on his wall. A picture of a baby, Sangye's son, hangs next to the large map of Tibet and the painting of HH Dalai Lama.
I will not give you all of the recipes that we learned (my reason being something between forcing you to attend these classes and having my own secrets to cook for my friends), but I will reveal one: the chocolate momo. No, it's not traditional; according to Sangye, it's a recipe which was born in his own kitchen. But yes, it is delicious.
To make the dough, don't follow a recipe. Don't measure, says Sangye, because flour always reacts differently with water. For about 20 momos, mix two cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and water as needed. Mix it with one finger (not all of them) until the texture feels right (it comes out feeling something like play-doh when you've got it right). Knead for 5 minutes, let sit for an hour. Flatten into thin (but even) circles of about 3-4" diameter.
Chocolate Momo Filling
4 tbsp oil (usually anything but olive will do)
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sesame seed
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chocolate powder
On low heat, cook the ingredients until golden brown. Put in the center of the dough and fold.
Folding is quite a skill, one which you really need to see in order to reproduce (I suggest youtube). There are several types of momos, but the two most common, the round one (representing unity) and the half moon (representing the mountains around Tibet) take a bit of skill to learn.
Steam for 10 minutes.
For those of you that know me personally, be prepared to eat some delicious momos.
On the way home, I dropped off two momos with Mittsu, who took them with both hands and touched the package to her forehead in thanks.
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| Momos about to be steamed |
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| A combination of momos, HHDL, and Sangye's gesture really describes the class. |
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