Tibetan Food – Ghee

In Tibet, you will see ghee everywhere, in every Tibetan family. Ghee is daily necessary Tibetan food.

Tibetan Food – Extraction of Ghee

Ghee is extracted from milk and goat's milk. In the past, the way to extract ghee is very special. The herdsman fist heat up the milk. Then put the milk into a big wooden bucket, which is named "Xuedong" by Tibetan (it is 4 feet high, with 1 feet diameter). After that, heavily beat it from up to down for hundreds times until the water separate from oil, and appear a light yellow fattiness on the surface. At last, take up the fattiness on the surface, and put it into a leather bag. After the fattiness cool, it is ghee. Now, more and more districts start to use milk separator to extract ghee. In general, a cow can produce two to three kilogram milk, while fifty kilogram milk can extract two to three kilogram ghee.

Tibetan Food – Ways of Eating Ghee

There are several ways of eating ghee. The main way of eating ghee is to make it to butter tea, or to mix it with tsamba. In festivals, Tibetans also use ghee to deep-fry food. In Tibet, people are fond of drinking butter tea. When make butter tea, first decoct tea or brick tea with water. Then, pour the tea into 'Dongmo" (a kind of bucket used to contain butter tea), and add some ghee and salt into it. After that, beat it for tens tomes, until the oil and tea fully mixed. At last, pour the tea into pot to heat it up. That's delicious butter tea.

Tibetans often use butter tea to welcome guests. There is series of custom about drinking butter tea. When guests sit at the side of Tibetan style desk, the host will take out a wooden bowl or cup in front of the guest. Then, the host or hostess will take out the bottle which contain butter tea, shake for several times, and pour into the bowl before guests. Guests can not drink the butter tea once the host pours into the bowl. The guests should first chat with the host. When the host stands aside the guest again with the butter tea bottle, guests can take up the bowl. First slightly blow around the bowl to blow off the oil on the surface, sip and praise the butter tea. After guests put the butter tea bowl on desk, the host will fill it up. Just like this, the hospitable host will fill up the butter tea bowl once guest drink a little. If you do not want to drink more, you could leave to bowl on the desk after host filling it up, and drink it for several times before leaving. It is polite that not to drink it up but leave a little tea with little oil on it in the bowl bottom.