"Come eat!"

“To Zowa Sho” means “Come eat!” in Dzongkha the official language of Bhutan.  “To” is both the word for food as well as the word for rice because for us, rice is a very important component of most meals. Sometimes it’s eaten for all three meals of the day.  I think this simple invitation encapsulates what I hope to do with this blog because it implies that you are not eating alone, that eating is a communal act.  After several years of living as a graduate student in the US where I frequently cooked and  ate alone, even when I lived with other people, one of the greatest pleasures  of moving back to live in Thimphu with my family is that I don’t have to  eat alone or even  cook alone.  So in this blog I will write a lot about what my family is cooking and eating but I also want to use it as a space to think out loud about what Bhutanese, particularly urban Bhutanese are cooking and eating.  I hope you will join me!