| Description |
Although the origin of yak breeding in Nubri is not known, it can be stated that it has been practiced there for a very long time. The villagers get almost all their needs from the yaks.
Milk is the most important product obtained from the yaks. It is consumed either raw or boiled. Raw milk is also used to make tea, and it is also sold or bartered. Milk can also be used to make butter, which fetches a good price. There are two types of butter production: churning and machine processing. In churning, butter is traditionally made in a wooden vessel. In machine production, modern technology, a milk separator, is used to extract butter. Cheese and hard cheeses are also a good source of income for livestock farmers. Then the whey is used.
Of all the products obtained from yak, Phe-lu is another unique traditional dish. Phe-lu is a sticky substance that tastes like aged cheese and is specially made from the milk of Bjim (female yaks). There are two types of Phe-lu: one made from milk and the other from curd. Phe-lu made from milk is considered better because cheese made from curd can easily turn into zoedey (fermented cheese). For a kilogram of milk Phe-lu, one gets about 800 to 1000 Ngultrum (Bhutanese currency), and for a kilogram of curd Phe-lu, slightly less, about 600 Ngultrum. It is usually produced in the highland areas where people depend mainly on livestock and dairy products.
Phe-lu is a remarkable representation of nomadic life. It shows how nomads subsist only on milk, but in different ways, either by selling it or consuming it directly.
In Paro Dzongkhag, Tsento Gewog is located in a highland area where yaks are raised and dairy products are either sold or bartered. Phe-lu, which is made from yak milk, is produced in Tsento Gewog. Phe-lu is mostly made in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th months of the Bhutanese calendar.
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| Community |
The village of Nubri in the Tshento gewog is located at an altitude of 2000 to 5210 meters above sea level. There are about 17 households in the village who make their living mainly from yak herding and dairy products. The products are either used or sold to generate income. The products used are milk, hair, draft, dung for fuel, meat and hides.
Data collected by: Ms. Jigme Choden, NLAB |
