Yak butter

[1][2] It is a staple food product and trade item for herder communities in south Central Asia and the Tibetan Plateau.

[3] Yaks provide their herders with many different benefits, including dung for fuel, draught power, meat, fiber, and milk.

Not all herding communities have a tradition of using yak's milk or making butter, although in regions of mountain pastures the practice is common.

[5] Fresh yak butter is preserved a number of ways, and can last for up to a year when unexposed to air and stored in cool dry conditions.

[1] Melted yak butter may be mixed, in roughly equal proportions, with roasted barley flour (tsampa).

[7] Other non-food uses include fueling yak-butter lamps,[8] moisturizing skin,[1] and the traditional butter sculptures for Tibetan New Year.