Wintertime in eastern Tibet. Many of you enjoyed the last video we shared from home. This one arguably gives you even more of a taste of the paradise that is snow and horsemen on the Tibetan plateau. In this short clip even the nomads appear to be temporarily paralysed by the beauty of scene (spot the guy with his mobile phone out - he's making his own video). You've got everything here: mountains, snow, motorbikes and a whole herd of handsome Khampa horsemen. This part of Tibet, known by Tibetan people as Kham, is more than twice the size of Sweden, and the people are big too - considerably taller than Tibetans from other parts of Tibet. Khampa men, as you can see in the video, often wear t
Some of you may know that before we built ourselves our amazing new kitchen over in Cowley, Taste Tibet operated (for rather too long) out of our home. The house still bears the scars - the leather sofa cushion stained on one side by a large tub of Fairy Liquid, the cream walls still dotted black in places by our menu boards, and a build up of stuff. This week we have been spring cleaning the house, and a lot of things have gone to charity. Charity shops don't exist in Tibet, but there is a long-standing tradition of alms-giving there. Since people in Tibet do not accumulate stuff in the way that we do here in the west, charity takes very different forms. Food is a biggie. When I first met Y
Ladies and gents, Taste Tibet is back in the house! January blues no more, as the momo returns to east Oxford this Thursday 17th Jan for the first in a long run of Thursday night Taste Tibet takeovers at the wonderful Silvie cafe on Iffley Road. Our team is bringing back some tried and tested favourites, as well as a host of new, unique Tibetan dishes. Come for freshly-steamed momo dumplings made crispy in the pan, and a mouthwatering spread of Himalayan dishes featuring loads of vegan, gluten-free options. Eat in and enjoy a drink from Silvie's bar, or take away for a night at home. Take home food will be packaged in 100% biodegradable/recyclable containers, or bring your own! Now accepting
Here is a wonderful short video sent to me this week from relatives in Tibet. This blog often challenges your idea of Tibet: the food, the weather and so on, but this video, shot a few days ago in the mountains near my home, shows you exactly what you would expect of wintertime in Tibet, and it is glorious (and cold). Last week my family celebrated their new year at (almost) exactly the same time as we did here in Oxford, UK. This is highly unusual. Official Tibetan new year never coincides with the western Gregorian new year. The Tibetan calendar, like many in the east Asian cultural sphere, is lunisolar, which means that it is based on both lunar and solar cycles: the months are lunar and
