🇧🇹 The cattle breeds of Bhutan

Cattle in Bhutan show themselves chiefly at the table. Cows and yaks supply the milk behind the country's butter, cheese and salty butter tea, and most of it ends up as butter or cheese rather than a fresh drink. Datshi, a soft cow's-milk cottage cheese, is eaten everywhere, and dried beef has a place in the hills.

• Most milk from cows and yaks ends up as butter or cheese, not a fresh drink.
• Datshi, a soft cottage cheese from cow's milk, is eaten across Bhutan.
• Chhurpi, hardened yak-milk cheese, ranks among the hardest cheeses anywhere.
• Zoetay, aged datshi from the eastern districts, is greenish and sharp-smelling.
• Suja, Bhutan's butter tea, is brewed with tea leaves, salt and butter.

Cattle in Bhutan

Keeping cattle in Bhutan shows itself above all at the table. Cows and yaks between them give the milk that feeds the country's taste for butter and cheese, and most of that milk is churned or curdled rather than drunk fresh. Dried beef also has a place in the diet of the hills. The food shares much with its neighbours: dumplings and tsampa porridge come from Tibet, while rice served with pulses is popular in the south and comes from Nepal. A Western thread runs through the dairy too, with cheddar and gouda styles made at a factory in Jakar or brought in from India. Yak butter, stirred into salty tea, completes the picture.

Regions and communities

Dairy has its own geography. The eastern districts age the soft cheese datshi into zoetay, which is usually greenish and sharp-smelling. The town of Jakar turns out Western-style cheeses such as cheddar and gouda, though cheese also arrives from India. Chhurpi, the hard yak-milk cheese, is a daily chew above all in the countryside, where it is sucked or nibbled through the day.

Milk, butter and beef

Milk is the heart of it. Most of what cows and yaks give becomes butter or cheese. Datshi is a soft cottage cheese from cow's milk, eaten across the country; aged in the east it becomes zoetay. Chhurpi, also called chugo, is yak milk set into small cubes and hardened until it ranks among the hardest cheeses anywhere. Yak butter seasons suja, the tea brewed with leaves and salt. In the hills, dried beef and yak meat join pork, chicken and lamb in soups and stews. Cheddar and gouda styles are made at a factory in Jakar, with more brought in from India.

Today

Dairy holds its ground on the Bhutanese table. Cows and yaks still provide most of the milk, and it goes mainly into butter and cheese. Chhurpi remains an everyday chew in the countryside, prized enough to be sucked all day. Western-style cheese now has a local home in Jakar, beside imports from India, so the dairy shelf runs from soft datshi to cheddar.