Tibetan food

 

Tibetan food

 

According to its latitude, most of the Tibetan Plateau belongs to the subtropical warm wind zone, with an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and is extremely rich in natural resources. Compared with areas at the same latitude, Tibet has high altitude, thin air, less precipitation, sufficient sunshine and high wind speed.

The Tibetan people have lived on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas for generations, which is today's Tibet Autonomous Region and parts of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu. The unique natural landscape of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the diligence and wisdom of the Tibetan people have given birth to a unique catering culture.

The wise man Agudengba chatted with the caravan leader Lacuo about the characteristics of Tibetan food.

Agudemba said:

Due to Tibet's unique geographical location and climate characteristics, the Tibetan people have unique dietary habits. Tsampa, butter tea, sweet tea, milk residue, highland barley wine, beef and mutton, etc. have always been the traditional foods of the Tibetan people on the vast Tibetan Plateau.

The main foods in Tibetan farming areas are highland barley, wheat, corn, potatoes and other miscellaneous grains; the drinking butter tea and highland barley wine are also consumed. Generally, there are three meals a day, and four to five meals during busy farming periods.

The main foods for pastoralists in Tibetan pastoral areas are milk, meat and tsampa. I only eat a little flour and rice occasionally, and even less vegetables and fruits. Herdsmen's favorite food is "finger meat". Their main drink is milk tea, and they drink yogurt after meals. Basically three meals a day. Pastoral areas rarely produce alcohol, so the liquor they drink is mainly purchased from other places.

In addition to tsampa and butter, residents in urban areas of Tibet often eat rice, white flour and vegetables.

The main raw materials of Tibetan food are tsampa, butter, beef and mutton.

Zanba is the staple food of the Tibetan people. Its raw material is flour made from fried highland barley or peas. Tsampa is rich in nutrients, fragrant and hunger-resistant, easy to carry and easy to preserve. Generally divided into four categories: "Nai Zan" (highland barley tsampa), "Sanxi" (peeled peas fried and ground), "Sanma" (pea tsampa), and "Bai San" (highland barley and peas mixed and ground). kind.

Highland barley, also known as barley, Yuanmai and rice wheat, is the main raw material for Tibetan people to make tsampa. After frying, highland barley is ground into flour and eaten with butter tea. People also mix highland barley with peas to make tsampa. The nutrition of highland barley It is relatively rich, and its nutritional value is no less than that of other cereals, and some nutrients are even higher than other cereals. Zanba made from highland barley is not only a traditional food of the Tibetan people, but also appears in major restaurants in Lhasa as a Tibetan meal. It has become an important food for entertaining foreign guests.

During religious festivals, Tibetan people also throw tsampa to show their blessings; during grand mulberry burnings, people not only sprinkle some water on the fire, but also throw tsampa, etc. into the fire. A Tibetan folk song goes: You light the snow fence, and I burn the tsampa... The charm of this tsampa culture is rare among other ethnic groups.

Agudumba added:

Ghee is an indispensable food in the lives of Tibetan people. It is a kind of crude butter, similar to mainland butter. It is a cream product extracted from milk. It contains about 80-90% fat and a lot of vitamin A. , every two ounces of ghee can provide about 400 calories of heat energy and 200 international units of vitamin A. Ghee has very high nutritional value and can withstand cold and hunger after being eaten. Ghee, a high-calorie food, can help Tibetans resist low temperatures. After the butter is extracted and boiled together with brick tea, you can get rich butter tea.

In addition to making butter tea, Tibetan people also use it to make fried foods during festivals and festivals. The lamps that stay on all year round in Tibetan temples are also fueled by butter.

In addition, ghee has many uses. The Tibetan people used hot ghee to stop bleeding more than a thousand years ago. Tibetan medicine also believes that ghee can increase semen, moisturize the complexion, increase energy, increase heat, and prevent skin from cracking. In Tibet, serving guests with butter tea is an ancient tradition of the Tibetan people. No matter whether he walks into a herdsman's tent, a farmer's mud hut, or visits a friend's house, the host always prepares fragrant and hot butter tea for his guests to taste.

When Tibetans go on a long journey, their relatives and friends always present a white khata and bowls of butter tea when they come to say goodbye, wishing the travelers good luck and a smooth journey. In addition, Tibetan people are inseparable from butter during festivals and weddings, especially the various snacks made with butter, which are both beautiful and crispy. The butter flowers at Kumbum Monastery in Qinghai are even more unique, fully reflecting the Tibetan nationality. Characteristics of food culture. On October 25th every year, it is the Tibetan "Gaden Aqu" Festival (Lamp Festival). In order to pay homage to Master Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Yellow Sect (Gelug Sect), people will light butter lamps to show their respect. .

Agudemba continued:

Beef and mutton are important raw materials in Tibetan cuisine. Tibetan people mainly eat beef, mutton, and dairy products. People in pastoral areas consume more than 60 kilograms of beef and mutton per person per month. They also eat a large amount of butter, not much tsampa, and occasionally some flour. Dough made from noodles, "Tuba". In winter, they mainly eat meat, but in summer, they eat a lot of yogurt, fresh milk, and a small amount of tsampa. However, people in pastoral areas generally do not eat vegetables and have a monotonous diet. From a single dietary structure, pastoral areas and even some towns in Tibet are high-fat and high-protein eating areas.

The beef in Tibetan cuisine is mainly plateau yak meat, while the mutton is mostly sheep meat. The meat in Tibetan food is bright red, tender, delicious, low in fat and high in protein. The air-dried meat that people often refer to refers to air-dried beef and mutton.

Some of the more unique foods include:

"Shabuqin" (raw meat sauce): Use oil-free beef (such as the meat from yak hind legs, preferably without fat) as raw material, chop it into a sauce, mix it with chili sauce, add a little pepper, salt water and minced wild garlic ,Delicious.

"Dolma Zhesi" (ginseng fruit rice): It is a unique food. In addition to the daily dining table, it is indispensable for New Year celebrations and other celebrations, because it symbolizes good luck.

It is well known that beef, mutton and ghee are high in calories, which is helpful for the human body to resist the cold for people living in high altitude and cold areas. There are many ways to make Tibetan food, such as boiling, roasting, steaming, stir-frying, stewing, etc.

Interestingly, Tibetan people have the habit of eating raw meat. If you go to the homes of some herders or farming areas, you will see dried beef and mutton hanging in the house or tent. Many people enjoy eating the dried beef and mutton raw, and then eat it raw. Drink some fragrant butter tea.

The caravan leader Lacuo said:

Milk is also an indispensable food in the lives of Tibetan people. In addition to making milk into butter, yogurt, and milk residue, people also eat fresh milk. Tibetan medicine believes that milk tastes bitter during digestion and contains oil. It can increase people's vitality, make the complexion rosy, make the skin shiny, increase mucus, and treat bile and gas diseases. In particular, cow's milk is a kind of energizer, which stimulates people's brain power, eliminates fatigue, and treats dizziness, poisoning, cough, excessive thirst, hunger, etc. Therefore, in addition to a large amount of milk, Tibetan people, especially those in pastoral areas, also consume goat milk.

Interestingly, Tibetan people eat yogurt and watch Tibetan operas during the Shoton Festival, so it is commonly known as the Yogurt Festival. This characteristic of food culture is rare among other ethnic groups. I’ve been to several yogurt festivals.

Lacuo said:

Various beverages are indispensable components of nutritious food for the Tibetan people. Generally speaking, the main drinks of Tibetan people include butter tea, clear tea, sweet tea, fresh milk and highland barley wine. Among them, butter tea and clear tea are eaten at the same time as the staple food tsampa, and are also used as daily drinks. Butter tea and sweet tea are respectively made of butter, milk or milk powder, tea leaves, salt, and sugar. It can be seen that butter tea and sweet tea are nutritional products with the function of tea. From a nutritional point of view, butter can supplement heat energy and vitamin A. Sweet tea can also supplement protein and other nutrients.

Highland barley wine is a wine made from fermented highland barley. Most men, women and children in Tibet drink this wine.

Agudemba continued:

Tibetan people brew a large amount of highland barley wine before celebrating festivals. From April to August in the Tibetan calendar, almost all traditional and non-traditional festivals, religious and non-religious festivals, Lhasa people have to drink sweet and intoxicating wine. On the green grassland of Linkana, people gathered in small groups and set up tents of various colors. While drinking highland barley wine, they played the six-stringed harp and sang and danced to their heart's content, showing the charm of Tibetan wine culture.

Agudengba sang a Tibetan song "Highland Barley Wine":

 

The cup of highland barley wine in my hand,

It is made of clean nectar and rain,

Grains that have absorbed the essence of the sun and moon,

Heaven and earth create fine wine.

 

The noble man drank this cup of highland barley wine,

Your heart is as broad as the sky;

The timid man drinks this glass of wine,

I am not afraid when I walk without a companion;

The hero drank this glass of wine,

Be brave and mighty on the battlefield and kill the enemy.

 

I use this cup of wine to worship the three gods,

Singing happy songs requires this glass of wine,

You need this drink to dance the carnival.

 

This is longevity wine,

This is Dharma cultivation wine,

This is ambrosia.

 

Distinguished guest,

Please drink this glass of wine,

Be happy and don’t leave.