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Drink

Barley Water

Barley water is a simple beverage made by boiling barley in water and straining the liquid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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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.

Make the barley water

  1. Rinse the barley under cold water.

  2. In a pot, combine the rinsed barley and water.

  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

  4. Strain the liquid to remove the barley.

Serve

  1. 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

What each ingredient does

Barley
Releases starch and flavour into the water as it simmers, thickening and flavouring the liquid.
Water
Extracts flavour and soluble starch from the barley during simmering.

“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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