Some say Tibet is “the roof of the world,” also a “sea of song and dance,” This is where Mt. Everest and the Himalayan mountains stretch 29,000 feet up into crisp, vivid  blue skies. Clear rivers gush from generous sources and beautiful lakes reflect the tranquil spirit of a spiritual people.

         There’s not much that’s lavish or self-indulgent in Tibet, except for certain shrines, in this spartan country. Tibit’s rugged geography coupled with hard work and self-discipline is not for everyone. Yet, Tibetans consider their heritage rich, as well as their belief system,  Buddhism.

         Their recent history has been disruptive. Their lifestyle choice was isolationism until China invaded and occupied their land in l950. Soon after an uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India to live in exile, declaring he wanted autonomy for Tibet. "Whether we like it or not,” he urged, “we have to live side-by-side, -- the Tibetans and the Chinese. We must follow nonviolence.”                                                 

Tibet is extremely yak-dependent. This wild, shaggy-haired ox, is central to Tibetan culture. Worth more alive than dead, these pack, draft and saddle animals yield excellent milk, from which butter is made, and fat in a cold climate is  essential in everyone’s diet. And, the yak’s usefulness doesn’t stop with dairy products. Every yak organ appears in favorite dishes; Its flesh is excellent roasted or dried.  Externally, a yak’s hair is spun into rope and cloth; yak hide is used for leather.

Barbara Banks’ story, “A Tibetan Picnic,” in the book, Travelers’ Tales, describes her mid-feast thoughts while dining on a large yak meal prepared by a former chef to the Dalai Lama. She states, “… soon we came to the grim realization that … we were going to eat NOTHING BUT yak, from snout to tail and everything in-between.”

Culturally, Buddhists cannot slaughter or witness the slaughter of animals; but they can and do eat animal flesh as long as they are not responsible for the animal’s death. The Buddha, himself, ate meat. The same goes for fowl, silkworms and shellfish.

 Probably their most spectacular celebration is the Tibetan Festival of the Butter Gods, which is an excellent example of geographic abundance. In her book, “Much Depends on Dinner,” Margaret Visser describes the spiritual celebration: “Immense panels of [high]-relief panels representing Buddhist deities and mythical subjects [are] carved in yak butter by scores of lamas … taking months. The multi-colored carvings are amazingly intricate. Tibetans' dependence  upon their yak herds is typical of pastoralists (shepherds), the original ‘butter-eaters’ the world over.”

Even vultures eat well in Tibet. They assist in death observances, called “sky burials.” Special funeral priests cut up deceased people the night before massive winged birds lift body pieces skyward at dawn. The logic here is wood is too scarce for cremation and graves impossible to dig up on high, frozen plateaus. Believers feel this ritual hastens the ascent of body/spirit to a higher place.

Festivals in this land do not include a heavy emphasis on eating. Annually, their new year is ushered in with families making special fried cookies, called kha-zas.

The warmer Tibetan valleys produce a wide range of green and leafy vegetables. Staple crops are millet, buckwheat, hemp and mustard. This, however, is a country which must import its most popular drink which is tea.  

FAVORITE FOODS:

·      CHINESE TEA: made with tea, salt, soda and yak butter in a wooden tea churn. Sometimes, it’s made by individuals in the bottom of their own partially-finished teacup.

·      COLD DISHES: yak stomach, air-dried beef, mutton or blood blood sausage, sheep marrow

·      HOT DISHES:  fried sheep lung, yak tongue, beef stew with turnip, wild duck with insect-plant, beef and potato with curry sauce, braised ox tenders

·      PAG CAKE: careful mixture of tsamba, tea, butter and sugar

·      SAUSAGES:  blood, meat, flour and liver

·      SPLIT PEA PANCAKES borrowed from Napal, also  pickled vegetable greens borrowed from India.  

·      TSAMBA:  this is a toasted grain used in drinks, soup and special tea.

·      TUBO:  a savory gruel with tsamba, dried meat and a tuber called “yuangen”

·      YOE:  popular popped grain cereal product

RECIPE:
Adapted from Wagmo’s cookbook: “Ngotsa manang ne choe”  – “ Eat Shamelessly."
 

KONGPO SHAPTAK (Kongpo-style Browned Beef, serves 4) 

Cut beef into thin slices, 1/8 inch by 1 inches.

Recommended reading:
THE LHASA MOON TIBETAN COOKBOOK
by Tsering Wangmo and Zara Houshmand
Snow Lion Publications, Incorporated

© Copyright 2001, Marty Martindale, Largo FL

Followup, May, 2006:

For Immediate Release   
RagyaTibetan Plateaus First Yak Cheese Export

Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural Library
 
On Friday, 19 May 2006, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at 132 Perry Street (Suite 2B), New York, NY 10014 (tel: 212 367-8490), the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and the Trace Foundation will host a press briefing to announce the advent of Ragya Yak Cheese, a unique and aromatic creation from the high-altitude land of Tibet.
 
Jigme Gyaltsen, a senior monk from Ragya Monastery in Qinghai on the Tibetan Plateau, is the founder of a private school and the extraordinary individual behind the development of this cheese. He will be present at the press briefing to answer q! uestions.
 
Following the press briefing, there will be an official opening for Thogang: From the Tibetan Plateau, an exhibition of photographs by Lois Conner.

The story of Ragya Yak Cheese began with the vision of Jigme Gyaltsen, who ten years ago searched for a way to support the children at the primary school of which he is the principal. With the help of a grant from Trace Foundation which, around that same time, was interested in exploring cheese-making as a means to promote culturally appropriate economic development in the region, Jigme Gyaltsen established a cheese factory for the processing of dri milk (the female of the yak) on the rich grasslands of Qinghai near the remote prefecture of Golok. The product of the factory will generate income to help sustain both his school and the local Tibetan nomad community.
In 2004, Jigme Gyaltsen and the Trace Foundation joined Slow Food, forming the Tibetan Plateau Yak Cheese Presidium, an economic development project designed to improve and promote the quality of Ragya Yak Cheese.

Over the past two summers, with the involvement of master cheese makers from Italy, the Ragya Yak Cheese Factory has produced a hard mountain cheese with an aroma reminiscent of an aged pecorino and a clean flavor that finishes with mild herbal and grassy notes. Although unusual, the making of this hard cheese fell in line with the many ways the nomads have developed to preserve the rich nutritive value of yak milk in such harsh environment.
 
The Presidium now works with over 30 yak herders and a dozen cheese makers on the Tibetan Plateau to identify ways in which their local agricultural products can become sustainable sources of income. Now the question is: Is it possible for Ragya Yak Cheese to compete with Vermont or Wisconsins best efforts? We believe that at twice ! the fat of cows milk cheese, its chances are excellent.
 
Chefs from New York Citys I Trulli, Rose Water, and Aurora restaurants have also created recipes using the cheese. These recipes and further suggestions on how to serve the cheese will be available on the following websites:  www.tibetcheese.org and www.slowfoodusa.org
 
On the evening of May 19th from 6-8 p.m. there will be a further opportunity to sample Ragya Yak Cheese at a wine and cheese reception at Latse Library. Jigme Gyaltsen, Trace Foundation, and Slow Food representatives will talk about the project. A short documentary, shot on location, by Italian filmmaker Andrea Cavazzuti will also be shown.
 
Ragya Yak Cheese Events in New York, 19 May 2006

10:00-11:00 a.m.         Press Briefing
6:00-8:00 p.m.    ! ;         Wine and Cheese Reception
                                    
                                    
Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural Library
132 Perry Street
New York, NY 10014
www.latse.org
http://www.latse.org

Contact: Paola Vanzo
Trace Foundation
212-367-7380
events@trace.org
 

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