Let me start with something from my own experience – a long time ago, when I was still a student, once a week in the square near my department building there was a street food market where one of the stalls sold absolutely fantastic Tibetan momo dumplings. I ate them regularly and recommended them to everyone around me; even now, once in a while, I miss the simplicity of this meal that I ate on the bench between lectures. A few years later, I pick up a book of Tibetan recipes, open the introduction – and realize it was written by the couple to whom I owe so many fantastic conversations and meals from years ago!
Taste Tibet is no longer just a street stall – Julie and Yeshi have opened a restaurant in Oxford and now share their love of food in this cookbook. The recipes they share and the extensive introduction show that Tibetan cuisine is not just some sad offshoot of Nepali or Chinese cuisine, but a rich culinary culture that deserves recognition. After all, Tibet is a huge region, stretching over a million square kilometers. Despite its size, the food eaten by Tibetans in different parts of the area has many things in common: there is a lot of dairy, a lot of meat, and the basis of the diet is not rice but barley (specifically, roasted barley flour called tsampa.) However, as you can read in the book – the lifestyle of the Tibetans is changing rapidly (largely to blame on the Chinese government which is trying to persuade them to settle in cities and move away from the nomadic lifestyle) – and so is the approach to food. Buddhism is still extremely important in every aspect of life and it is also manifested ways in Tibetan cuisine (both in terms of what is eaten and how food is prepared) – the whole context is outlined in the introduction. I strongly encourage you to read it before your first attempts to recreate Tibetan flavors in your kitchen.
This is not a strictly vegetarian book, but the vast majority of recipes are vegetarian (and specific recipes are labeled “vegetarian” or “vegan”). I’ve been enchanted by the recipe for thukpa soup (which I had the pleasure of eating in Tibet!) and spicy momos with potato stuffing, and I’m excited to try to prepare mothuk, a famous dumpling soup. And of course, the first thing I’m going to do is try to recreate the daal I remember from my student days!
