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Or is it ‘Food, gosh, the same old food’?
For USD$200 per day, the package includes three meals a day. But the choice of food is rather limited in Bhutan. Though they do have western food to cater for the tourists, I have read it somewhere that local flavour is a better (or is it safer?) choice.
And somehow, all our meals came in local flavour. ‘Varieties’ do not seem to exist in Bhutan as far as food is concerned, and meat is seldom served. If they do, it will be either stewed beef or pork. I had not seen chicken meat since I arrived in Bhutan and asked the local if they don’t take chicken. I was told, ‘We do, but because of bird flu, we don’t serve chicken for now.’ I looked at him in bewilderment. I scratched my head and wondered to myself, ‘They are really behind time, even with flu outbreak. The world is facing flu A (H1N1) now and bird flu is already history!’
The most famous and popular dish, which is also a national dish is ema datse – chillies cooked in cheese sauce. These are big (yes, is big) green / red chillies and they can be very (and yes, very) hot. We had that for every meal!
Initially, trying the local food was as exciting as the journey and the experience itself. But after having almost the same type and cooked in the same style of food for the previous six days, my taste bug started to protest on our final day. So when Yuen cheh, my roommate offered me a packet of instant noodle, I felt (at that moment) that – happiness is to receive a packet of instant noodle from friend when one most needed it!
My breakfast in Thimphu
Typical Bhutanese food.(Clockwise from left) – buckwheat momo (dumpling),
red rice, buckwheat noodle, chillies in
cheese sauce, and potatoes (centre).
Bhutanese take more red rice than white rice
After so many days of ‘same old’ food,instant noodle had never tasted so good before.
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