Ancient Dining Habits of Luoba Ethnic Group
All Lhoba men take flints along with them on the waist to make fire for tobacco and picnic. However, in some of their eating habits, we can still see some traces of their ancestors’ history of eating raw. For instance, in making a pledge between tribes, blood wine is served. In every autumn’s harvest celebration, they drink the still warm blood of a bull with ghee. They also regard the raw marrow of a wild bull as most delicious. Some of the Lhobas often cut the flesh of a roe into sauce, and then mingle with cayenne and ginger into a kind of seasoning.
As eating habits is concerned, roasting is the most popular way of making food for the Lhoba people. Either animal food or vegetable food is cooked in this way. For instance, they put a whole fish into the fire and then cover it with heated ashes; before long one will have a well-cooked fish. Sometimes, after eating a part of a big game roasted, they also cut the rest of it into pieces, and roast them for store.
Pokering food is also a common practice of making foods. They grind buckwheat, corn or Daxie (starch made from a palm arbor), mix it with water into a paste, and put it on a piece of burned stone. After both sides of the paste are cooked, it is put into the heated ashes of the fire and stay there till well-cooked.
The Lhoba people also have a very peculiar way of boiling foods. People of the Bengru and Sulong tribes often make Daxie into thick liquid, and pour it into a gourd. Then, a stone burned to red is taken out of the fire and put into the gourd. The heat of the stone gets the Daxie cooked. They may also put some rice or other food together with water into a bamboo section, and then put the bamboo section over the fire. This is often prepared for long journeys, because they can simply cut the bamboo and eat the food within when hungry.
Collection and hunting are important food sources for the Lhobas. They also have various ways of catching mountain rats. Slate crashing, crossbow shooting, and trapping are also effective measures. Sometimes, a family has its own exclusive region for rats hunting. They burn the hair of the rats caught, and then cook it for meal. If there are too many rats, they would dry them for store. Mountain rats in the Lhoba Mountains are fat and big, and have fine and tasteful meat; therefore, they are regarded as a good dish to serve on important occasions such as a wedding ceremony.
The Lohba people are very hospitable. When a guest is warmly served, he is obliged to eat all the food. When the guest comes, they offer him wine; the host sips some wine and eats some food first to show his sincerity. The Lhobas see having a guest stay longer as an honor, and regard it as a great shame if they cannot serve the guest well.
