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Barley and Prunes

A simple stew of barley, prunes, and brisket simmered slowly with vinegar and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Barley and vinegar work together. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 102 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Barley and Prunes

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Place the brisket in a pot and cover with water. Boil and skim the surface.

  2. Add the barley and cook until it is partly tender.

  3. Add the prunes, vinegar, and some salt. Boil slowly for 2 hours, stirring carefully to keep the prunes whole.

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 + vinegartop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together102 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Barley
Its starch thickens the cooking liquid and gives the dish body and a chewy texture.
Prunes
They add sweetness and a soft, jammy texture as they cook.
Brisket
Its fat enriches the broth and its connective tissue softens into moist, tender meat during long simmering.
Vinegar
Its acidity brightens the sweetness of the prunes and balances the richness of the fat.

The step that matters

Boil slowly and stir carefully. Vigorous boiling or rough stirring breaks down the prunes' soft skins and flesh. A gentle simmer with careful stirring keeps them whole while their sugars and flavors slowly soften into the liquid.

“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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