Michael Pugh spits like a local in Kyaiktiyo

To Myanmar With Love

View Photos (1) Image © 2009 To Myanmar With Love

Red splotches everywhere-on streets, sidewalks, storefronts, shirtfronts, and even stray dogs-signaled that I was in betel nut country. Popular across Myanmar, betel nut was pervasive throughout the town of Kyaiktiyo, with every other man on the street nursing a hefty plug between his cheek and gum.

I stepped over and around the stains, and the dogs, as my hotelier, Tun Tun, and I walked past open-air teashops and sleepy stores toward a large banyan tree at the center of town. The ground beneath the tree was stained almost completely red, like the floor of a slaughterhouse. At the center of this mess a frail old man stood behind a ramshackle wooden stall. The man smiled as we approached, exposing an impressive set of blood-red choppers. Tun Tun flashed his own crimson grin and greeted the man in Burmese. 

This was Sitila, the local betel nut distributor. 

A dark red seed from the betel (areca) palm, betel nut acts as a stimulant when mixed with lime powder. Chewing betel nut produces copious amounts of brick-red saliva, which explained all the splotches around town-and all the scarlet smiles.

The act of chewing betel nut in Myanmar goes back to the beginning of the country's recorded history. Long the habit of royalty, it is part of a tradition which states that dying men be given betel nut as a final earthly pleasure. I'd seen Tun Tun enjoy several such pleasures throughout the afternoon, and now he ordered two more: one for immediate use and one for bedtime.

Sitila plucked two fresh leaves out of a plastic bag, laid them flat on his counter, and smeared lime paste across them with a short knobby stick. He dropped small mounds of crushed betel nut on top, drizzled tobacco over it all, and twisted each leaf up into a neat package the size of a bonbon.

Tun Tun shoved one in his mouth and the other into his pocket. He grinned and said, "You want try?"

Growing up in Wisconsin, I was no stranger to chewing tobacco. I figured betel nut wouldn't be much of a stretch. "Sure," I said.

Tun Tun spoke to Sitila, and the old man smiled at me.

I tried not to look at his teeth.

"Tobacco or no tobacco?" Tun Tun inquired.

"No tobacco."

The old man slathered a new leaf with lime paste and dropped a few broken hunks of nut atop it, repeating the ritual to create a package about half the size of Tun Tun's. He handed it to me and nodded with encouragement.

I popped the wad into my mouth and held it between my cheek and gum. Watching me, Tun Tun and Sitila gnawed on wads of their own.

"So, you chew it?" I asked.

Tun Tun nodded. His mouth was full of spit, and he tilted his head back to speak. "Chew, yes, but no swallow," he gurgled.

The leaf felt smooth and fresh in my mouth. The chunks of betel nut were sharp and unyielding. As I gnawed them, the leaf wrapper broke up and I could taste the gritty, alkaline paste and the peppery nut. I detected hints of baking chocolate, soil, and hand soap. I chewed and chewed and gathered saliva. Finally, I spat a gob of pinkish juice into the dust.

Tun Tun and Sitila smiled. "You like?" Tun Tun asked.

"Very good," I said. In fact, it wasn't bad. I began to feel a little buzz, like the kick of a double espresso.

I plucked a wad of kyat out of my pocket and gestured "how much?" But Sitila waved me off. This one was on the house.

FACT FILE: 

Finding a betel nut vendor 
With their portable stalls, betel nut sellers like Sitila conduct business on streets and sidewalks across Myanmar. If you don't spot one immediately, ask around-there's probably a stand right around the corner.

Custom ordering your betel
To order betel nut, simply specify whether you want tobacco, peppermint, or other spices added, and then watch the seller prepare your serving with betel nut and lime paste smeared on a leaf. Pop the morsel in your mouth, chew lightly, and-voilà!-you're participating in an age-old custom. A serving of betel nut can cost 40 to 100 kyat, depending upon the size of the "package" and the ingredients.

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Published on 2/13/09