Tsamarella

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title: "Tsamarella" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dried-meat", "cypriot-cuisine", "goat-dishes"] description: "Traditional lunch meat in Cyprus" topic_path: "general/dried-meat" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsamarella" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Traditional lunch meat in Cyprus ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Samarella.jpg" caption="Tsamarella"] ::

Tsamarella (, ) is a traditional food and one of Cyprus' main lunch meats, common in both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Preparation

It consists usually of goat's meat; the whole animal without its bones, that is salted and cured for preservation. The process of preparation traditionally involves drying in the sun for few days. After that, the meat was placed in boiled water and a condiment (usually oregano) was added. The producers then put it again in the sun for one more day. Tsamarella is soft, has salty taste and it is served with alcoholic beverages (wine, zivania etc.) as a meze.

Historical facts

Like the vast majority of Cyprus' dried meats (lountza, loukaniko, apohtin, zalatina etc.), tsamarella is a traditional product of Marathasa Valley, Pitsilia and Pafos' agricultural areas. Moreover, in the past it was placed in special wooden lockers and it was used as a way to maintain food.

References

References

1. "Products and Recipes". Cyprus Tourism Organisation.
2. "Σφαγή χοίρου & Παρασκευή παραδοσιακών αλλαντικών". Cyprus Food Virtual Museum.
3. "North Cyprus Cuisine". Partners abroad.
4. "Τσαμαρέλλα". Cyprus Food Virtual Museum.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::