Tsampa
tibetan: རྩམ་པ་
The Tibetan staple food
Roasted barley flour with butter and cheese
“The main product of our fields was barley. Roasted and ground to a fine flour, it is called Tsampa in Tibetan … Even now in exile I eat Tsampa every day. Of course you do not eat the flour. Add some liquid, usually tea or – which I like best – milk, even yogurt or even Chang, Tibetan barley beer, and knead it with your fingers in the bowl to small balls, which you then eat. You can also cook porridge with it. Tibetans love Tsampa … “
– S.H. the 14th Dalai Lama –
At an altitude of over 3500 meters, the Tibetans feed on Tsampa, which is Tibet’s most important food thanks to its gentle processing and balanced composition.
The individual preparation methods of Tsampa have no limits. Some enjoy the taste of the relatively dry tsampa, others prefer to knead tea with a ball, in which case one needs a certain skill to achieve the right balance of tsampa and the liquid; while others make a soup out of it. With every type of preparation, a little butter (preferably yak butter) brings out the typical taste. ?(1)
Since the barley grains have already been roasted, the preparation time of Tsampa is short. For this reason, it is popular among the Sherpas, nomads and other travelers. (2)
By gentle roasting the important nutrients and vegetable protein are preserved and is very high in fiber, which is why many athletes and hikers access there. (1)
In the restaurant we only use the Sonam’s Tsampa from the company demeter and is also available in our shop.
