A set of video images from Bhutan of a the butter and cheese making processes.

Format: DV 720×576

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Rural Bhutan farmers make butter and cheese partly for storage or as a preserved form of milk for self consumption, with any excess being sold for cash.

Milk from nursing cows is boiled then seeded from a previous batch of yogurt and left to curdle. As early as the following morning the rich curd is churned by hand until butter is formed. To prevent the butter from becoming rancid it must be washed. Bhutanese farmers may also boil the butter to form ghee, which will last much longer. The ghee is used for cooking or just spooned onto rice.

The remaining thin whey is then warmed to nearly boiling which seperates a cottage like cheese called datshi. This cheese is used in one the most famous of all Bhutanese dishes �Ema Datshi�� where Ema is chilli.