Black tea with butter and salt
A cup of tea for breakfast. What sounds familiar in Bhutan gets an unexpected aftertaste. Because besides tea, there is a large lump of butter and a scoop of salt in the pot. Butter tea fills the stomach and warms the body. Essential for anyone with a long day in the mountains ahead. For many Bhutanese, this drink is on the menu every day. But travellers are also treated to it. If you pass a mountain village, you will no doubt be presented with a cup of butter tea. With homemade yak butter. And also at the end of a long day of walking awaits a cup of tea. The taste may take some getting used to, but it gives much needed energy.
Still, no one can live on tea alone. And so your Bhutan guides carry some for on the road, dried yak meat. Here too, the practical aspects have at least as much influence on the popularity of this regional product as the taste. In many houses the meat hangs to dry in the hallway. It's easy to take and keep for a long time. A challenge for the jaw muscles, though. If you are staying with a farming family in Bhutan, you can count on a cup of dried yawns as well as a cup of arra, self-fired rice beer. Perfect to wash away the spicy taste of the commonly used green peppers.