A Nepalese Cooking Experience!

The ultimate cooking class experience is about to be told. Let me preface this post with a warning – There will be NO recipes included. Rather, this cooking adventure was filled with giggling, nail painting, and a dance party instead of learning any recipes. It was not what I had thought I signed up for….. it was WAY better!!

The course started out with two Nepalese women picking us up from where we were staying and walking us across this great flat field where we walked right passed cows, goats, and water buffalos with a river passing through. There were rice fields, corn rows, and potato fields. Men were spread out along the fields, squatting while holding umbrellas as they watched their herd of animals. This was a sight to see!  How lucky was I?!

When we arrived to this tiny village we were welcomed by beautiful girls. These Nepalese teenagers showed me a wonderful time! We couldn’t get enough of each other J

Maya was the leader of the group. She was 16 years old and knew the most amount of English (which was still VERY little). Maya took us into her home which was a mud hut and had us sit on a bamboo mat in her kitchen. I COULD NOT believe this kitchen. I thought the Kitchen in India was unimaginable to cook in – this one was even more shocking. We sat in a dark enclosed room, on a dirt floor with two fire pits to hold two pots. The steam in the kitchen EASILY filled the room so girls would hold pieces of fabric on sticks to create manual fan for us. Wow – what an eye opener. I valued my kitchen SO much after this. And I mean SO much! Keep in mind that this picture below has a ton of light because of my flash. It truly was very dark in there.

We peeled potatoes with rusted knives and cut them with curved knives held steady between our toes. We crushed spices and chilies between a rounded rock and a flat rock. We scrubbed plates with muddy leaves and rinsed them with well water. There was no joking around with this cooking course – we were cooking with the locals. It was AMAZING!

 

But, this was only the beginning of the fun. While the rice and lentils were cooking, the girls took us around the village. Before I knew it we are painting each other’s nails and having a dance party in one of the huts. “Boom boom boom boom…. I want you in my room”. Yes, we were dancing to American pop music and having a blast!!!  We giggled like school girls and took so many pictures as the girls really loved seeing their picture on the digital cameras. We had SO much fun! 

 

 

After the dance party, Maya took me around to all of the girl’s huts to show me their bedrooms. The fanciest part of Sunu’s room, age 14, was her hot pink mosquito net over her bed. How lucky was this 14 year old girl? Angelina, age 10, had the luxury for an actual plug in fan. Wow – she was lucky! This was the ONLY prized possession of an electric fan in all of the huts I visited that day. Wow – now she was lucky! Sapana, age 12, had a TV in her hut AND a makeup box. We got even fancier. Her makeup box included the essentials for any 12 year old girl. Face whitening powder, face whitening lotion, bindi’s (sticker between your eye’s), and black eyeliner. Isn’t she lucky? And Maya’s room had none of the above mentioned luxuries. Just a dirt floor and a wooden table as a bed.  Please take a moment to be grateful for those very small things in life we ALL take for granted. Please take just one minute to consider the “luxuries” we have like a mattress, doors, and a shower. 
This room below was a grandmothers room :(

So now that my nails were painted and my body was dripping with sweat from our dance party – dinner was  ready to be eaten! We are welcomed back into the hot and steamy kitchen where we sat on the bamboo mat once again and were served our meal. The girls joined us for dinner and one of the mother’s served each of us one at a time. First on the plate was rice – a big serving worth. Next – Dahl. Third – Potato’s. Fourth – Tomato and Chili stir fry. I have really no idea how exactly this was all made – but I didn’t care. I was SO happy to be eating with my new friends!

And what better way to experience this meal but eating with our own dirty hands??!  Yummy!

This was an incredible experience. Definitely one of the highlights of my entire trip so far. Although I left with no recipes, I left with a full belly, a plethora of memories to keep, and most meaningful to me - the value of the luxuries I have in my life. Thanks Maya, Sapana, Angelina, and Sunu for a fantastic day!! These cultural experiences are what I live for during my travels! They make up the best days!

Click on this picture below for more great shots of this memorable experience!