[CH] [Fwd: favour-could you post to CH for moi? THANKS!]
Doug Irvine (dougandmarie@shaw.ca)
Sat, 30 Jul 2005 11:21:13 -0700
On behalf of Mary-Anne Durkee
Cuisine of a Mystical Land
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Snugly nestled in the thickets of Eastern Himalayas lies truly a magical
land
aptly named the last Shangri-la on Earth. This is Bhutan whose mystique
landscape matches wildly with it's cuisine.
The people of Dragon Kingdom simply love to eat and they like it hot, very
hot. The Bhutanese are passionate about chilli and these fiery little things
form a ubiquitous part of every dish, every day. "Without chillies we
die" they
sing in unison and to prove their words chillies are spread generously
all over
- on the roadsides, on rooftops and on the courtyards like butter spread
on the
kadak bread toasts. The huge baskets of chillies at the markets put to
shame the
bursting pumpkins, white radish, potato, cabbage, cauliflower and beans.
The local chilli used here is Capsicum Annum, a fluffy red variety. The
smaller Indian variety is also grown and a red and incineratingly hot
Nepalese
chilli is used for pickles. "We Bhutanese, consume chillies like
vegetables not
as spices", says our host at the hotel City Centre. No wonder then, an
average
family uses more than three dozens of chillies every day.
And they surely believe in starting them young. So the little ones are
peppered with small amounts of the fiery drug when they start taking
their first
steps and soon they become addicted just like their parents. It is little
surprise that their courtship with chilli begins with the first rays of
the sun.
The morning chai- suja, a thick viscous soup made from butter and salt is
supplemented with Chilli spiked ezay. Ezay is a snack comprised of chopped
chillies, onions, tomatoes and a home made Yak cheese called datshi.
When mixed with milk, ezay becomes a heavenly meal that is also offered to
important Buddhist Lamas. The national staple diet- Ema Datshi is also a
cheese
and chilli combination. And any time, anywhere you can freak out on (if you
dare) on raw chillies dipped in salt and served with green onions. "If
it does
not make you sweat, then why ever bother to eat?" they ask. Therefore,
if you
would like to taste their cuisine, you might want to tell them to tone
it down.
Another important feature of this exotic cuisine is the use of rice. Five
kilograms per head per week is the normal consumption. As this is the
only crop
cultivated, rice also finds its way in various forms from breakfast to
dinner.
It's either rice with curry or curry with rice and lots and lots of.........
.Yes, you guessed it right.
The urban areas including Thimpu, Paro and Phuntsholing use the white rice
while the rural population uses the red (with husk) grained variety.
Rice based
delicacies include Desi- a tasty mixture of white rice, butter, sugar,
golden
raisins and saffron and Zow - a fried rice made with sugar, butter and
oilseeds.
These are also the favourites of His Majesty King Jigme Wangchuk and are
served
on special occasions.
In eastern Bhutan, some wheat is cultivated and the staple diet is Puta or
wheat noodles. In most families of Southern Bhutan, corn kernels are
dried in
bamboo shoots and then ground coarsely to make Kharang. This is then
added to
the leftover curry and made into a Thukpa (porridge) style breakfast.
The rice is served in a special tightly woven bamboo bowl called Bangchung
made in the Kheng province. This is a lovely souvenir from Bhutan and can be
used as a wall decoration.
Meat especially Yak meat, is a staple food for the non-vegetarian. Yak is a
common sight in every household. Not a single part of the animal is wasted,
besides the meat, their milk is made into cheese, even the skin is fried and
served as a snack with drinks. The Yak herders come down from the
highlands in
autumn and sell meat, butter and cheese to villagers in exchange of rice
to last
them a full year. The average meat an adult Yak yields is 250 to 260 kg.
It also
produces 1 kg of butter and an equivalent amount of cheese in three to four
days. The locals sometimes hang thin strips of yak meat in the courtyard
to be
dried in the hot sun and store it for use later. "The dried variety is
much more
delicious", quips a village woman on enquiry.
Though they appreciate the pleasure of meat, being a Buddhist country,
slaughter of animals is restricted. In Bumthang, a district in eastern
Bhutan,
slaughter of animals is not allowed at all, however you can eat the meat
if the
same animal fell off a cliff. What a concession! In the Nepalese dominated
northern regions the use of meat is more common. A particularly interesting
variety is the preserved Yak haunch. The haunch is wrapped in cloth and kept
under cover for two to three months. At celebrations it is taken out and
served
with a generous helping of chillies with a strong local drink.
The most common preparation of meat is Pa or curry. Large chunks of meat are
mixed with lots of vegetables and chillies and boiled for a long time to
make a
curry. Turmeric or other spices are not used, leaving the curry white.
Zhasonpa
is prepared in the same manner, except chicken pieces (Zhason) are used
instead.
Bhutanese also love Momos, a kind of a dumpling. Though a Tibetan
speciality,
it has occupied a permanent place in the Bhutanese cuisine. Chicken and Pork
Momos are favoured but cheese Momos are the most common. In the interiors of
Southern Bhutan, Shel Roti is preferred which is quite different form a
chapati.
Designed like a ring this is made from rice flour and deep fried in
bubbling hot
oil. Sugar is sometimes added to make it tastier.
Coming back to Ema Datshi. Here is the recipe in brief if you want to
try: To
make the cheese, pour boiling water to the yoghurt left in the churn
after the
butter is removed. Stir gently till it turns into a soft yellow paste,
which is
then fried with butter and sugar to get the 'Datshi'. Finally, add
chilli, salt
and cook with the Datshi to make a curry.
Sometimes the Datshi is dried for a few more days to make it hard. It is
then
cut into pieces, stringed and kept over fire for three to four months
and this
stone hard chewing gum is ready. This is what the Bhutanese chew all the
time.
They say it helps to keep the body warm. We tried but spat it out in no
time due
to its pungent odour. Repeated persuasion by our guide could not change our
opinion even when the temperature fell to -7 degrees.
Now, how do they wash down all these hot, spicy delicacies? The answer is
simple, either with a drink or with Tea. The Bhutanese are habitual
drinkers and
refuse to touch any thing else after sun down. The local speciality is Ara a
strong green liquor, made from any grain cultivated in the region either
rice,
wheat or barley. In traditional feasts, an unusual snack is offered.
Butter is
heated with egg and Ara is poured over the whole offering. In the Kheng
region,
raw meat is served with drinks and on special occasions, the whole village
participates in the feast.
In Bumthang, a rare tea is made from a parasitic plant Neshing Jurma, that
grows on Oak trees. This vanilla scented heady tea can convert even the most
hard core critic. In most Bhutanese homes tea or liquor may be served as a
starter and at the end too, since they do not eat desserts. Doma or
betel nut is
also frequently consumed. Unlike Pan, it consists of only the leaf, lime
and nut
and they swallow the juice. Offering of Doma between teenagers is
considered as
a sign of affection.
These days however, the Urban Bhutanese are tilting towards the Western type
of food and even the rural population is not interested in this laborious
process. But in festivals, weddings and other traditional gatherings the
Bhutanese will always opt for the cuisine of the land. by Monideepa Banerjee
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