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Food at Base Camp
Living at 5300m for over 2 months, many of the base camp team were unsure what to expect from the food we would be eating. Having experienced a range of Nepalese traditional dishes on the trek through the Khumbu valley, we had eaten our fair share of Dal Bhat and were anticipating more of the same once we reached Base Camp. However, our team of cooking Sherpas have managed to exceed our expectations.
In their small tent, the cooks manage to whip up meals on a combination of kerosene gas cookers, pressure cookers, an oven and even a bread maker! They have made base camp our ‘Home from Home’ by providing us with many Western dishes and broadened our culinary horizons by treating us to their traditional meals. Over the last few days we have had chicken curry, spaghetti bolognaise and, perhaps the highlight of our week, a berry crumble!
However, occasionally we do retire to our tents a little hungry. The spam and jam sandwiches are an interesting combination, one which is best not to repeat! The triple carbohydrate combination of potato, bread and pasta is sure to stop the altitude induced weight loss but perhaps isn̢۪t a recipe Jamie Oliver would be proud of. And the deceptively delicious looking chocolate rice-crispy cakes which, in fact, disappointingly turned out to be just chocolate rice left us craving the delights of the Namche Bazaar Bakery! Occasionally we find ourselves dreaming of fish and chips, a Sunday roast or a scone with clotted cream and fresh jam, perhaps we will take over the kitchen one day and try and teach them how to whip up a good scone!
Overall, we have all been pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food. The Sherpa cook team work exceptionally hard to ensure we are well fed and do their best to cater to our every request. It is a well known fact that altitude-induced weight loss occurs if spending prolonged periods of time at high altitude. However, should the cooking continue at this rate, we will hopefully be keeping weight loss to a minimum.
Ali Cobb - Laboratory Manager - Everest base camp
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