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- Feb 23, 1999
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After seeing my efforts at tsampa making as documented in the HI cookbook, Yangdu was kind enough to send me two samples of Nepalese tsampa. One comes from Kami Sherpa’s ranch at the base of Mt. Everest. The other was made here in the US by Yangdu’s sister Diki.
Since I still have some of my own home brew tsampa, Red Flower and I decided to run a three way taste test. We made 3 small bowls of thick porridge, each consisting of 2 tbsp tsampa, 4 tbsp hot water, a pinch of sweetener, and 6 frozen blackberries. Here are the results.
Everest Ranch Tsampa - The smoothest and most refined of the three. Red Flower says the smell and the texture reminds her of the wheat flower porridge she used to eat back in China during the Cultural Revolution. This one brought back a lot of memories for her.
Diki’s Tsampa - very similar to the above, but not quite as finely ground. Somehow Diki replicated the Nepalese version very closely from an American kitchen.
Howard’s Tsampa - definitely the most primitive of the three. Imagine the flavor of the slightly burnt, unpopped kernels of popcorn that are left in the bottom of the pot after all the other kernels pop. I like it, Red Flower says it is bitter and tastes like coffee. But then again, I was always the one that crunched down the unpopped popcorn kernels.
The verdict - Red Flower definitely prefers the ones Yangdu sent, giving the slight edge to the Everest version. My less discriminating palate tells me they are all delicious. But both Red Flower and I agree, any tsampa is better than no tsampa.
Since I still have some of my own home brew tsampa, Red Flower and I decided to run a three way taste test. We made 3 small bowls of thick porridge, each consisting of 2 tbsp tsampa, 4 tbsp hot water, a pinch of sweetener, and 6 frozen blackberries. Here are the results.
Everest Ranch Tsampa - The smoothest and most refined of the three. Red Flower says the smell and the texture reminds her of the wheat flower porridge she used to eat back in China during the Cultural Revolution. This one brought back a lot of memories for her.
Diki’s Tsampa - very similar to the above, but not quite as finely ground. Somehow Diki replicated the Nepalese version very closely from an American kitchen.
Howard’s Tsampa - definitely the most primitive of the three. Imagine the flavor of the slightly burnt, unpopped kernels of popcorn that are left in the bottom of the pot after all the other kernels pop. I like it, Red Flower says it is bitter and tastes like coffee. But then again, I was always the one that crunched down the unpopped popcorn kernels.
The verdict - Red Flower definitely prefers the ones Yangdu sent, giving the slight edge to the Everest version. My less discriminating palate tells me they are all delicious. But both Red Flower and I agree, any tsampa is better than no tsampa.
The blackberries sound good too. I gotta try it!