To Make Barley Water
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the barley
Put 1 tablespoon of pearl barley in 1 pint of cold water.
Boil and discard the first water.
Add another pint of water.
Simmer and strain
Simmer for 2 hours.
Strain and cool.
Make the barley water
Take 2 teaspoons of prepared barley.
Mix with cold water to form a paste.
Pour 1 pint of boiling water onto the paste.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Strain if necessary.
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
- Releases starch during simmering, thickening the liquid and giving it a light body.
The step that matters
Mix the barley with cold water to form a paste. A smooth paste spreads the barley starch evenly before the boiling water goes in. Adding hot water to dry or unevenly mixed barley can leave lumps and an uneven texture.
“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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