COMO Uma Bhutan is proud to launch an integrated new cooking experience. As part of the Himalayan Explorer six- and seven-night itineraries, which includes stays at both COMO Uma Paro and COMO Uma Punakha, guests can now also enjoy a half-day Bhutanese cooking class, using techniques and ingredients native to this Himalayan country.
The cooking experience is helmed by the Executive Chef at COMO Uma Paro, Tshering Lhaden. She returned to her native Bhutan in 2016 after almost a decade working for COMO Hotels and Resorts in the Caribbean and the Maldives. After successfully launching an authentic Bhutanese menu at both COMO Uma Paro and COMO Uma Punakha, Chef Tshering and her team are excited to introduce guests to a deeper understanding of the country’s culinary heritage.
Chef Tshering says: ‘Bhutanese cuisine may appear initially very homogenous — noodles, ‘momo’ dumplings, chilies and yak cheese — but actually each valley, and sometimes even each village, has its own cuisine and its own particular cooking utensils.”
Guests will be taught to make authentic Bhutanese dishes such as ‘ema datshi’, a fermented yak cheese and chili dish; ‘dau’, a yak milk yogurt; Bhutanese buckwheat noodles; and ‘momo’ dumplings filled with minced yak meat, which are dipped in ‘etsay’, a very hot chilli sauce universally loved by all Bhutanese people.
Chef Tshering is proud of the Bhutanese kitchen utensils at COMO Uma Punakha, which were handmade in her local village in Bumthang Valley – about an eight-hour drive away from the property – and brought over to Punakha Valley last summer.
‘Most of the handmade wooden utensils we use in the kitchen are available in all traditional Bhutanese kitchens,’ she says. ‘For example, we use a ‘sume’ to make fresh yak buttermilk, butter and cheese. The yak milk itself we buy from the local farmer nearby, which we then ferment into a yoghurt called ‘dau’. We then churn this into butter using the ‘sume’. The buttermilk leftover from the process is boiled and drained to create the end result – a fresh cheese that looks a bit like a cottage cheese, which we call ‘datshi’.’
A ‘sume’ for making ‘Datchi’
Guests will also be taught how to use a ‘tshome,’ – a wooden pounding utensil, similar to a pestle and mortar, found in every Bhutanese homestead. It’s used for dry and wet pounding, for spices, chilli, cereals, flat rice and ‘etzay,’ the chili sauce used liberally in all dishes.
A ‘Tshome’ used for pounding spices and cereals
The cooking class will take place in the valley of Punakha, where an abundance of local fresh and organic vegetables are available to use, sourced from nearby farms. Guests will be met by COMO Uma Punakha’s chef for a guided walk around the lodge’s organic vegetable garden, before learning to prepare a full meal in the al fresco open kitchen. After the class, the meal can be enjoyed on the terrace overlooking the Mo Chhu river.
A Pura Par used for making buckwheat noodles
James Low, General Manager of COMO Uma Bhutan, says: “Our guests are intrepid travelers who want to get an understanding of the culture around them. Our new cooking classes have been created to give them another insight into this fascinating country and its people.”
Himalayan Explorer Inclusions • Accommodation at COMO Uma Paro and COMO Uma Punakha on a full board basis, including picnic lunches during excursion days (excluding beverages)
The six-night Himalayan Explorer starts at US$6,617 and the seven-night Himalayan Explorer starts at US$7,746 for two people.
