Without them, no expedition would survive that long in a desolate environment such as this Everest Base Camp (Tibet). They are responsible for dishing out the most mouth watering receipies in the harshest place on Earth.

Cooks that serve most mountaineering expeditions to the Himalaya (both Nepal and Tibet) are mostly Nepali. Very few expeditions use Chinese cooks (the reader is asked to figure out why). Most Western expeditions (this one is no exception) prefer to pay the CMA (Chinese Mountaineering Association) leevies to bring Nepali cooks across the border from Nepal into Tibet.

While most cooks are identical to those that work in Nepali restaurants and hotels, the "expedition cooks" must have the ability to work at high altitudes (4,000m and higher - this base camp is 5200m).  

Expedition cooks work in conditions that might look appalling to most people - their tent (the kitchen tent) is dim, and the atmosphere is kerosene filled. They are all very hard working people too - a typical day schedule of an expedition cook looks something like this -