Food in Tibetan Life

“This is the first book in English to describe Tibetan foods, their preparation and cookery, and their relation to Tibetan culture. Rinjing Dorje’s work, undertaken explicitly to preserve an important aspect of this culture, is completely authentic, as the Preface – provided through the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama – indicates.

Dorje’s delightful, idiosyncratic, introductory chapters enable readers to place everything in the appropriate cultural context of food and social customs.

In his description of the food and customs, from the ubiquitous tsampa and buttered tea to the lahtso (hermits who can control the weather) Dorje vividly recreates a style of life which risked being forgotten. The recipes, such as Dresil (sweet rice) and Momo (the famous meat-filled dumplings) are given in their true Tibetan form, but helpful suggestions are made where an ingredient is not readily obtainable in western countries. …”