Ema Datshi, Jasha Maru, Phaksha Paa, Suja Tea, Ara, Sura—all very exotic sounding, isn’t it? And you know where you should be heading to enjoy the flavours and textures of these heirloom culinary offerings—Bhutan of course!

So, let's go check out some fun-filled foodie explorations which take you to the very heart of Bhutanese culinary temptations and adventures, richly connected to its gorgeous rural environs and wilderness heritage spaces.

Farmer’s Den Dinner

Enter the lair of the Thunder Dragon’s farming community to explore a fantastic culture-cum-culinary odyssey amidst stunning natural settings. Almost, 60% of Bhutanese live in rural areas. Discover the ancient farming traditions of rural Bhutan on a tour with a farmer in his field of crops. Find out his neighbours who also own some plots which are farmed by their households. Popular cash crops like cabbage, cauliflower, peas, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, turnips, pumpkins, radishes, and buckwheat are harvested for use by the family and to be sold in the market. When the desultory chit-chat turns to more serious concerns of the Bhutanese agro world, of yields, soil health, water conservation, chemical fertilizers and pesticide usage et al. Learn all about the centuries old sustainable farming methods and the journey of a meal from farm to table and the seasonal hardships encountered in preserving these daily routines.

Later fetch and carry in the family kitchen while learning to cook a traditional meal. Bathed and dressed after a relaxing hot stone bath, like your farmer host, enjoy a convivial tumbler of ara the local brew with some of the neighbours invited to the meal. Made from by fermenting/ distilling from grains such as wheat, rice, millet, barley or buckwheat, ara is made in family kitchens across Bhutan. Chilli chops or chilli pakoras, along with deep fried rice puffs, cooked over traditional open mud ovens, are popular snacks to munch on. At dinner tuck into jaju (soup of turnip or spinach leaves and milk), red rice, buckwheat pancakes and spicy, fresh Jasha Maru or gingery chicken curry, alternately, a spicy beef curry; Ema datshi, the chilli-n cheese national dish of Bhutan, is an unfailing staple at all meals. The level of heat and pungency can vary from home to home! While the veggies are from the family kitchen garden meat served is from animals they rear. Thrill to the charm of the warm hospitality as the rest of the family join you for a meal.

Private Cooking Class after a Farmers’ Market Tour

One of the most culture-defining experiences is a cooking lesson with a home chef. It offers a wonderful opportunity to explore the local farmers market where the housewife can pick up fresh produce and other locally sourced ingredients directly from the farmers. It’s a lovely way to support the local economy by helping preserve the old ways of the small-scale homesteads eking out a living with their organic vegetable gardens, rice fields and fruit orchards. For the visitors there are photo-ops galore to capture the piles of farm fresh veggies and fruits, forest-sourced mushrooms, berries and barks along with ferns and bamboo shoots, spices and rice flakes, cheeses and yeasts, fresh meat and fish, hand-milled grains and other produce—all laid out like a bejeweled banquet of many hues. Mingle with the locals as they haggle and chat over the mundane matters of everyday life.

At an intimate cookout also discover the importance of all the ingredients, centuries-old cooking methods and even some of the traditional rituals set in place for celebratory occasions and special events for creating iconic Bhutanese dishes.

Try and plan a visit to the ever-popular Centenary Farmers’ Market held over long weekends in Thimphu.

High Tea picnic in a historic setting

Join the stream of local families heading out for a lovely open-air picnic in the shade of the trees at the Kuensel Phodrang Nature Park. It’s also a sacred spot presided over by the Buddha Dordenma, the humongous golden statue of Shakyamuni Buddha set atop a gilded meditation hall. At sunset this hilltop venue becomes a magical place. Visitors also mark their presence in the great meditation hall decorated with 125,000 miniature Buddhas.

Bhutan’s urban expanses too offer a slew of restaurants and cafés too where culinary buffs can unleash their culinary longings on an amazing journey of traditional and contemporary offerings.