Barley Water
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and soak the barley in cold water for 4 hours.
Cook the soaked barley in the same water until soft, either in a double boiler or over direct heat.
Reduce the quantity to one-half.
If it reduces more, add boiled water to make up the difference.
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
- Pearl barley
- Starch and soluble compounds from the grain thicken and flavour the cooking liquid as it simmers.
- Cold water
- Soaks and softens the barley and serves as the cooking liquid that becomes the drink.
The step that matters
Cooking the soaked barley until soft. Barley must be cooked long enough for the starches to gelatinise and the grain to soften; if it is undercooked the water stays thin and the grain stays hard. Gentle heat in a double boiler helps prevent scorching while the liquid reduces.
“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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