[FOOD AND CULTURE – including a recipe!]
Religion in Tibet involves special beliefs, customs and practices that shape peoples’ everyday lives.  
Likewise, food in Tibet not only provides people with nutrition, but has special meaning in religious and other rituals.  One strong example of this is the use of butter and grain on Buddhist monastery altars.  We’ve already talked about the herding of cows, yaks, goats and sheep in Tibet (see “Geography”).  The milk from these animals is churned into a lot of butter.  Butter can be used not only as food, but also as fuel: “butter lamps” are placed on the altar in the monastery and burn continually before the statue of Buddha. They are “butter lamps” because they work using a wick that is inserted into a container of butter and lit.  In addition, grain might be placed in an offering bowl on the altar to represent one of the five human senses – here, the sense of taste.  People bring other gifts of food to honor the Buddha, too.  

Butter is also important as an ingredient in butter tea, a very popular and well known drink in Tibet.  If you would like to sample this tea, here’s a simple recipe.
3 cups of water      
2 tea bags
1/3 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup milk
¾ teaspoon salt (NOT sugar!)
1 tablespoon butter
 

Directions:

1.  Combine 3 cups water and two tea bags in a medium sized saucepan – bring to a boil. (When boiling water, use caution and/or have an adult help.)
2.  Reduce to low heat.  Tea should remain hot but not boiling.
 3.  Remove tea bags.
4.  While stirring the tea water, add 1/3 cup half and half and 1/3 cup milk.
5.  Add ¾ teaspoon salt and mix
6.  Add 1 tablespoon butter, cut into 3 or 4 pieces so that it melts faster.  Stir well.
7.  When the butter has melted, remove from heat.
8.  Mix with an egg beater until frothy (2 to 3 minutes)
9.  Pour into mugs and serve immediately.  Makes 4 cups.
 
 

Click here for Dalai Lama
Click here for a recipe