Barley for Food and Health: Science, Technology, and Products

222 BARLEY FOODS: SELECTED TRADITIONAL BARLEY RECIPES
tea called po cha in a small bowl. The tea is made by combining hot black
tea with salt, yak butter and milk, then churning, shaking, or blending this mixture
for 2 or 3 minutes. If yak butter is not available, regular butter may be
used, but purists claim that the dish is not the same. There are various methods
of consuming the mixture. When the tea is added on top of the tsampa,
it may be drunk partially, leaving a doughy mixture in the bottom. This ball
of dough is then manipulated with the fingers until it forms a ball, which is
then eaten.
Tsampa is eaten in many different ways, in addition to mixing it with tea. It
is sometimes made into cakes, mixed with butter or grated cheese, perhaps with
sugar. It is also made into various porridges or soup, sometimes with meat (Tashi
2005).
SUMMARY
As reviewed in Chapter 1, barley has a long and varied history in human civilization.
In many cases, barley was the only or the most abundant cereal grain
available. The recipes selected for inclusion here represent a variety of cultures
and food styles. The diversity of preparation of the raw grains gives a suggestion
of the ingenuity of early people in preparing palatable, filling meals with limited
resources. Theirs was not a question of nutritional value or health benefits, but
of satisfying appetites with available grain supplies. This small collection will
hopefully encourage the reader to use creativity in using barley in the modern
food world.
REFERENCES
Bekele, B., Alemayehu, F., and Lakew, B. 2005. Food barley in Ethiopia. Pages 53–82 in:
Food Barley—Importance, Uses and Local Knowledge: Proc. International Workshop
on Food Barley Improvement. S. Grando and H. G. Macpherson, eds. ICARDA, Aleppo,
Syria.
Boswell, J. 1786. Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson.
Davidson, A. 1999. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press, New York.
Gelles, C. 1989. The Complete Whole Grain Cookbook. Donald I. Fine, New York.
Greene, B. 1988. The Grains Cookbook. Workman Publishing, New York.
Ju, J. S. 1979. A study on some nutritional effects for feeding barley and rice mixed diets
on rats. Pages 65–71 in: Proc. Joint Barley Utilization Seminar. Korea Science and
Engineering Foundation, Suweon, Korea.
Munck, L. 1977. Barley as food in old Scandinavia, especially Denmark. Pages 386–393
in: Proc. 4th Regional Winter Cereal Workshop: Barley, vol. II. ICARDA, Aleppo,
Syria.
NBFC. National Barley Food Council. Spokane, Washington.
Ochorowicz-Monatowa, M. 1958. Polish Cookery. Crown Publishers, New York.