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Apple Barley Water

A simple barley water flavored with apple, simmered and strained, optionally sweetened.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Barley and apple work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 80 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Apple Barley Water

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Simmer

  1. Bring the water to a boil in a pot.

  2. Add the barley and apple slices.

  3. Simmer for 30 minutes until the barley is tender.

Strain and serve

  1. Strain the mixture to remove solids.

  2. Sweeten with sugar if desired and serve warm or chilled.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Barley + appletop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  2. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Barley + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together755 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Barley
Releases starch as it simmers, giving the water a light body and a soft, slightly thick texture.
Apple
Adds mild fruity aroma and a gentle natural flavor to the water as it simmers.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the grain and fruit flavors.

The step that matters

Simmer until the barley is tender. Barley that is underdone stays firm and chewy and gives the drink a gritty texture, while the starch needs time in hot water to soften and release into the liquid.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (barley, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against barley, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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