Local Flavor: Yak Attack

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THE SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL (which ends Sunday) is probably your first chance to sample cuisine from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. But before loading up on spicy delicacies, want to know how they stack up nutritionally?

Mary Dickie, a D.C.-based registered dietician and licensed nutritionist, has never tried Bhutan's national dish, Ema Datsi, but she's not a fan of what's in it: hot chilies and yak cheese. "The problem with cheese is it's very high in saturated fat, which raises cholesterol, and it's very, very calorically dense," Dickie says. "It's not something you should eat if you have a cholesterol problem."

Another dish, Nakey Tshoem, consists of shredded chicken, fiddlehead ferns, cheese, chilies, onions, garlic and ginger, and is served with Bhutanese rice. The chicken (a low-fat source of protein) makes this dish healthier, Dickie says. "Just don't eat huge quantities of rice, because even though it's very low in fat, it's not high in nutrition."

Photo by Emily Wax/The Washington Post