Barley Water I
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick over and wash the barley.
Put the barley into a double boiler.
Cook and finish
Add cold water and salt.
Cook for 6 hours.
Strain and cool.
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
- Its starch dissolves into the water, giving the drink body and a mild, grainy flavour.
- Cold water
- Extracts flavour and starch from the barley slowly over long cooking, forming the liquid base.
The step that matters
Cook for 6 hours. Long, gentle cooking lets the barley's starch and flavour release into the water without scorching. Too much heat can stick or burn the grains, so the double boiler keeps the temperature steady.
“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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