Tibetan Diets

Tibet is a plateau with severe climate and special natural environment. People living here have created their own food culture in the past hundreds of years. Tibet Tour would like to introduce the ordinary Tibetan diets for tourists planning to visit Tibet from different corners of the world.

Tibetan Diets – Barley

Barley plays important role in the daily life of local Tibetans. It is the main material of Tibetan Tsampa – the most common food in Tibet. People here always fry the barley first and then grind it into flour and finally take it with butter. The Tsampa made of barley and pea is a traditional Tibetan food. Visitors could have a taste of it in the restaurants in the cities and towns. For the local Tibetan families, Tsampa is also a necessary diet for greeting their honored visitors.

Tibetan Diets – Beef and Mutton

Tourists in Tibet would find that the beef, mutton and milk products are the daily food for local Tibetans. The herdsmen on Tibet Plateau mainly take some Tibetan diets with high protein content. As we were known, both the beef and mutton are rich in protein, which is helpful in defending against the cold. Some Tibetans keep the habit of taking the raw meat. The air dried meat here enjoys high reputation among visitors for it is very chewy.

Tibetan Diets – Beverage

Various Tibetan style beverages provide the necessary nutrition for local Tibetans. The butter oil tea, sweet tea and barley wine are the most common beverages on Tibet Plateau. Generally, there will be a pot of butter oil tea if there is Tsampa. The butter oil tea and the sweet tea are made of butter oil, fresh milk or milk powder with tea, salt and white sugar respectively. In Tibet, it is an old tradition to greet the visitors with a cup of butter oil tea. The local Tibetans could always get a white Hada and a cup of butter oil tea from their relatives before leaving home for a long trip.

The barley wine was made of fermentative barley. It is a traditional beverage suitable for different ages of Tibetans. It is a must-do work to brew some barley wine before the celebration of the important Tibetan festivals. There is a series of traditional Tibetan festivals between April and August according to the Tibetan calendar. The local Tibetans would take their barley wine, butter oil tea and some desserts to spend a happy time with their families and friends in the beautiful garden.

Tibetan Diets – Butter

Tourists could see butter in the monasteries, Tibetan families and restaurants. The butter is not only used as an ordinary food, but also used to worship the Buddhas. It is said that the butter is abstracted from the milk. Hence, it is of high nutritive value. Tourists making a Tibet tour would find that the Tibetans living in the pasturing area take few vegetables or fruits. Except for the beef and mutton, the butter is the main supply of heat for them. Tourists coming to Tibet the first time are strongly suggested to eat some butter for it will help you to get adapted to the high plateau environment.