Tibetan Meal

Brief Introduction of Tibetan Meal

Tibetan meal is in a long history and with many distinctive features. Most materials of Tibetan meal are from Tibet, various in color, types and taste.

There are many ways to cook and present food in Tibetan banquet. In ancient, the way was decided by the social status of customers, and it can be divided into vegetable banquet and meat banquet. Now, in family or collective feast, Tibetans will use Han Style feast; presenting hot dishes, cold dishes, soup, main food and snack.

Tibetan meal can be divided into three kinds: main food, cooked food and soup. Except in sweet stuff, salt is the most basic spice. Except salt, there are ginger, curry, parsley, Tibetan fennel, pepper, elsholtziae, garlic, shallot, wild garlic, fritillaria, chili and other spices. The ways to use these spices are different, and different food will use different spices. The main food, spices and fixings in Tibetan banquet are strictly regulated. And the requirements for diet hygiene are very strict.

Main Food in Tibetan Meal

"Masem" which is made up by mixing tsampa, cheese powder and brown sugar; then use the melting butter to make it into semi-solid; put it into mold and decorate it with butter.

Potato Curry Rice: first, melt fresh butter, put little shallot to fry mutton, add fennel, salt and other spice into it; then cook the potato, peel off skin and cut into small lumps; put potato into pot and cook together. When present the food, first put rice into bowl, and adds potato curry on it.

Meat Bun: First, mince beef, butter and shallot, and add some spice into them. Then, mix flour into dough. The best bun is which the cooking liquor will flow out when you eat.

Mida means porridge. Base on rules, the monks in the Three Great Monasteries get the degree will distribute porridge to celebrate. The way to make porridge is cooking rice into porridge, adds some salt, butter, meat, red jujube, dried apricot, raisin into it, and then covers the pot for half an hour. When take out the porridge, mixing it completely.

Types of Tibetan dishes are various. The most distinctive are various sausages. Tibetans like put various things, like mutton, barley, blood, rice and so on with spices, into intestines and cook it to eat. It is very delicious.

In Tibet, people don't eat dog meat. Furthermore, they don't eat donkey, mule and horse. Some monks and religion believers even don't eat fish, pork and egg.

With the development of society and improvement of living standard, the communication with outside diet culture becomes more frequency. The techniques of cooking and ways to eat food in Tibet are greatly affected by other nationalties.