Tsamba
( 2005-10-27 )

The traditional Tibetan staple food istsamba, a kind of dough made with roasted barley flour and ghee (pure butter) with water. It has a certain novelty value the first time you try it, but only a Tibetan can eat it every day and still look forward to the next meal.

The highland barley is the principal material used to maketsamba. Tibetan barley is widely grown in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau due to its endurance to the local harshness and coldness.

Tsambais made by drying highland barley in the sun, parching the barley, and grinding the barley into flour in a water mill. It is ground into coarse or fine flour according to different tastes, and it also can be ground into refinedtsambaby removing the bran.Tsambais divided into several kinds, including highland barleytsamba, peatsamba, and mixedtsamba. Fine barleytsambais the top-gradetsamba, which is usually eaten in festive occasions or in entertaining guests.

To eat thetsamba, people should first pour a little buttered tea into a bowl. Add some butter, fine milk sediments, and white sugar into it, and then put thetsambaflour into the bowl. Then hold the bowl with the left hand, and thoroughly mix the ingredients with the right hand. Finally, mold the dough into small balls for eating. Other ingredients may also be added to enhance the flavor.

Tibetans eattsambaevery day and bring it as snack food while traveling. AsTsambais nutritious and is easy to carry about, it is the most convenient food for the Tibetans living on the plateau. When Tibetans go on a long journey, if they bring a bowl ortsambabag,tsamba, butter, and dry milk sediments, no matter where they are, they can use buttered tea, or even only some water, to make a meal of fragrant and nicetsambawithout lighting a fire to cook.

Tsambamade of highland barley is not only the traditional food of Tibetan people, but also frequently appears in main hotels inLhasaas the main dish served to guests from home and abroad. In religious festivals, Tibetans will casttsambato express their blessings to each other.

There are two main ways of preparing and eatingtsamba. One is to maketsambadough with Tibetan buttered tea while the other is to make porridge together with beef or mutton and vegetables. Thetsambaporridge is known as tupa. Unlike thetsambadough served with Tibetan buttered tea, tupa porridge is often served with sugar.