Food

Tibetan Food

The food of Tibetans reflects their adaptation to the high altitude. The most important crop is barley in Tibet. Dough made from barley flour, called ‘Tsampa’, is the staple food of Tibet.

Meat dishes are generally yak, goat, or mutton, often dried, or cooked into a spicy stew with potatoes. Yak yoghurt, butter and cheese are frequently eaten, and well-prepared yoghurt is considered something of a prestige item.

Drinks of butter tea & barley wine (chang) are popular in Tibet.

Chang, which is mildly intoxicating, is thick and white and has a sweet and pungent taste.

Tea was introduced into Tibet earlier than the tenth century, but it is only became a wide range of use since 13th century.

Butter tea

When making butter tea, usually the brick tea is boiled in water for several hours, and then the tea is poured into a hollow bamboo, where it is churned up with a plunger, together with a handful of salt, a pinch of soda, and a good lump of butter. The result is a purplish liquid of unusual taste for tea. The great thing is to blow aside the floating scum of butter before you drink. The moment you put the cup down, even if you have only taken a sip, a servant, who stands ready with a silver or earthenware teapot, fills it up.