ThimphuTech was the first technology blog in Bhutan. We started writing it in 2009, just as broadband and mobile internet started to take off. (Although internet in Bhutan was launched in 1999, it was either super-slow or super-expensive, and was only used by a selected few).
In the blog, we wrote about technology and food, but also about plenty of other stuff. The blog became popular and influential in Bhutan. A companion bi-weekly column -- Ask Boaz -- was published for many years in the Kuensel, Bhutan's national newspaper. (The complete Kuensel columns are available as an ebook, Blogging with Dragons).
We stopped updating the blog when we left Bhutan in 2014, but the information within the posts can still prove useful, and thus we decided to keep it online.
We thank all our readers. Tashi Delek, Boaz & Galit.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A cream-free country?
In case you haven't noticed, a serious crisis is looming in Bhutan: The country has run out of milk cream. It is virtually impossible to find Amul Fresh Cream - Bhutan's main source of milk cream - in the last few weeks. All Thimphu shops are out of stock on this item, and there are reports of similar shortages in other dzongkhags. The situation is so dire, in fact, that bakeries and hotels are removing items from their menus. The fabulous Big Bakery at Kawajangsa, for example, is no longer selling their heavenly summertime panna cota (we were lucky to have tasted it just before the crisis started).
A few questions that have been troubling me recently:
What is the cause of this shortage? I've asked a few people around town, but nobody seems to know.
Does it make sense for Amul's "Fresh Cream", a product that sits on the shelf for months, to be called "Fresh Cream"?
Is there any business opportunity for a local creamery in Bhutan?
Most importantly: Is it possible to prepare panna cota without cream?
Please let me know if you happen to have any answers.
Until the shops start re-stocking the item, we can always sing along with the commercial:
The milk is there, so cream can be made. Will be fresh. Then, also could be considered to produce pasteurized milk. saves a lot of time and dirty kitchen when one forgets the cooking milk while checking facebook in the mean time.....
And some other fresh milk options......? Instead of the 'who knows what they put in it' Indian stuff...
Or would market research say: to costly and no demand except this chilip...?
exactly, an entrepreneurial opportunity perhaps.
ReplyDeleteThe milk is there, so cream can be made. Will be fresh. Then, also could be considered to produce pasteurized milk. saves a lot of time and dirty kitchen when one forgets the cooking milk while checking facebook in the mean time.....
And some other fresh milk options......? Instead of the 'who knows what they put in it' Indian stuff...
Or would market research say: to costly and no demand except this chilip...?
1. How about using coconut milk or soy milk or rice milk?
ReplyDelete2. What does "ek do teen" mean? Which language is that?