Name: To Make Barley-water
Ingredients: 2 quarts of boiling water; 1 pint of cold water; 2 quarts of fresh boiling water; 1 quart of barley-water; one half

To Make Barley-water

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the barley

Wash the barley in cold water.
Put the barley into a saucepan with the cold water.
Boil for about 1/4 hour.
Strain off the water.

Reduce and strain

Add 2 quarts of fresh boiling water.
Boil until the liquid is reduced by one half.
Strain the liquid; it will be ready for use.

Flavor and serve

(Optional) Flavor with lemon peel, sweeten, or simmer a small piece with the barley.
(Optional) Add a little lemon juice when serving to improve flavor.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Barley: Provides the starch and body that give the strained liquid its mild, thin texture.
Water: Extracts flavor and soluble starch from the barley as it simmers and reduces.
Lemon juice (in the method): Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the finished barley water.

“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.