Passover, one of an important events within the Jewish calendar, begins on Friday. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, by which the historic Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. And it is also a very busy time at New York's Jewish delis. I feel. Sherpa knows his method around the lox and different delicacies I am hoping to buy at Russ, New York's nice, appetising retailer. But perhaps I had higher clarify. Sherpas in New York? Subsequently, his daughters took over. Then his grandson Mark Federman went to law school. But Mark heard the decision of the lox, it is said, and returned to run the store until - within the last half-decade or so - Mark's daughter Nikki and her first cousin Josh have taken over the enterprise. Lox is within the blood. In New York, an "appetising retailer" usually refers to a spot that sells these fishy delicacies generally outlined as "stuff that goes with bagels". Head into Russ on East Houston Street, where the pink and inexperienced neon signal and a few neon fish - salmon, I feel - wink over the door. On one side are glass-fronted counters that contain golden-skinned, candy-fleshed, smoked whitefish, smoked mackerel, smoked sable, smoked sturgeon. There may be dwelling-made cream cheese and, behind the counter, the best bagels in town, also bialys and the onion rolls often known as pletzel. Within the again, there may be the caviar, pickled herring, herring in cream sauce, herring salad. Before Jewish holidays, items like gefilte fish, matzo-ball soup and latkes (potato pancakes) are available to crowds who jam the store. But on the very coronary heart of the place is the lox and the nova. In New York, virtually everyone refers to smoked salmon as lox. Lox actually is the cheaper, saltier, brined belly salmon. Its more aristocratic cousin, chilly-smoked salmon, often comes from Nova Scotia however New Yorkers use the term nova, to confer with all smoked salmon, besides lox. At Russ, displayed in all their glory, is smoked salmon from Ireland, Scotland and Norway. There's even pastrami salmon, salmon spiced with pastrami flavouring. And behind the counter are the slicers, princes of the church of lox. Among them is Sherpa. It is a good distance from the japanese Himalayas to the peaks of fine slicing. And Sherpa did once climb to within six hours of Everest's peak. Probably the most famous among them, of course, was Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who went up with Sir Edmund Hillary. Sherpa Lox's full title is Sherpa Chhapte Panasha, and he was born in Patle, a village with a inhabitants of 120 in japanese Nepal. Restless and ambitious, he made his method to Zarzi where he worked with trekkers, made pals with foreigners, bought himself into an English-language school in Kathmandu - his English is pretty perfect now - and then to the USA. A job at an uptown appetising retailer taught Sherpa to slice salmon. Then somebody mentioned Russ & Daughters. A store supervisor now, Sherpa has been at Russ for a decade, the place he works alongside Italians, Dominicans, Mexicans and Israelis. There at the moment are about 7,000 Nepalese in New York and approximately 2,000 Sherpas. In 1907, when Joel Russ arrived at Ellis Island, it was a protracted journey, however he came, like thousands and thousands of others, in the hunt for refuge and perhaps a little bit slice of paradise. When, long ago, the Sherpa tribe migrated from Tibet to Nepal, it is alleged they journeyed, first, seeking a Shangri-la. You would possibly consider Russ & Daughters as a primarily Jewish shop, however that is New York - everyone comes here. I ask. Sherpa grins. BBC Radio 4: A 30-minute programme on Saturdays, 11:30 BST. Second 30-minute programme on Thursdays, 11:00 BST (some weeks only). Hear every day 10-minute editions Monday to Friday, repeated via the day, also out there to hear online. Read extra or explore the archive, exterior on the programme website, external. The BBC just isn't accountable for the content of external websites.