Probably the most important food for any Tibetan. Tibetans have been growing barley and preparing and eating Tsampa for thousands of years.
What is Tsampa? It is a flour made from roasted and ground barley. Whole barley grains are roasted on a bed of sand over a high heat, then cleaned before being ground to a fine flour. Once prepared in this way, it will keep for up to a year.
Tsampa is versatile, portable, quick and easy to prepare, warming, and extremely sustaining and nourishing food. You can live on tea and tsampa! The usual way to eat it is to add some hot tea and mix to a paste, or make with more liquid into a porridge. A more luxurious version would be to add dried cheese and a little sugar along with the tea. When traveling long distances it is the ultimate convenience and endurance food! It is also added to other dishes such as soups or momos.
Ngawang Tobchen, owner of the Wild Yak was the first Tibetan to make traditional Tsampa in Australia. All dishes at the Wild Yak containing Tsampa use Tsampa prepared by him in the traditional method, using the finest grade organic Australian barley. Tsampa is available to buy, enquire at restaurant.
