Sangay Thinley
Centre of Bhutan Studies
Bhutan draws its cultural inspiration from Mahayana Buddhism which has filtered into the lives of the Bhutanese. The Bhutanese culture reflects and resembles Tibetan culture in many ways, starting from governance to the people’s daily rituals. However, if there is one striking breakaway from the overarching Tibetan influence, it is in the domain of Bhutanese food. Unlike the vast Tibetan wasteland plagued by extreme weather, the fertile Bhutanese river valleys support the life sustaining practice of agriculture with the possibility of growing an assortment of food grains, vegetables and fruits. Indeed for most of its history, Bhutan was a net exporter of food to India in the south and Tibet to the north. This abundance of food ingredients has made it possible for the people to create a variety of exotic culinary recipes that are uniquely Bhutanese and spicy. Unlike the Tibetans, the Bhutanese predominantly depend on high carbohydrate vegetarian diets that help them observe the basic tenements of their faith which is non-violence.
This paper will try to explore the history of Bhutanese dietary habits, focusing on the rich agricultural resources of the country which more than suffices for its small population, discussing in detail the nature and type of Bhutanese culinary customs.
(Presented in the 2012 Asian Food Heritage Forum: Harmonizing Culture , Technology and Industry, 20-21 August 2012, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Chinese Dietary Culture Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, and Ministry of Culture, Thailand)