S'more

It recently occurred to me that in every blog post there’s almost always a mention of food. It’s not to make my readers drool (although if you tasted the homemade momos in our favorite Kathmandu restaurant, you’d understand). Rather it’s because food is such an essential part of Nepali culture.

Instead of “How are you?” most conversations start with “Have you eaten?” I’ve found that regardless of your response, more often than not, you will be invited in for tea.

Forcing food upon guests is polite, and in fact expected, behavior; it’s a way to show care and concern. This can quickly become overwhelming as my family found out during their visit to Gorkha. Not only did my Nepali family get to manifest their excitement for guests in massive amounts of food, but also forced the Wendels to find creative places to hide their food once their stomachs couldn’t fit any more. (Let’s just say there are some houseplants that have benefitted from “roti fertilizer.” But shhh, Mama Wendel says I’m not supposed to mention that.)

After learning how to cook of daal bhaat, I decided to return the favor and introduce some good ol’ American food to my host family. Recognizing the Nepali affinity for sugar (the diabetes-inducing chiya that kick starts my mornings gives ‘sweet tea’ a whole new meaning), I thought the crowd-friendly campfire s’mores would be right up their alley. Apparently force-feeding doesn’t just apply to Nepali daal bhaat, as I found out after my fourth roasted marshmallow in the span of five minutes.

And let me tell you –you’ve never been force fed until you’ve been force fed marshmallows by a three-year old on a sugar high!

The video speaks for itself: