Barley - too big a subject, so just pearl barley (for now)

"A versatile crop that farmers love, with its short growing season and excessively robust leaf stalks, barley is also one of the hardiest perennials around, able to withstand drought, flood, frost, and in a pinch pestilence too. If that doesn't explain its popularity with the green-thumbed set, try this: In one form or another, barley can be harvested from the upper reaches of the Arctic to the tropic plains of the Equators! In both climes, its wholesome, low-gluten grain has been a chief source of intestinal fortitude (In cereal and flour) as well as intemperate behaviour (in beer and malt spirits) for literally a millenium." Bert Greene

Well actually considerably longer than a millennium. They have found traces of barley in fossilised bread from the stone age. And the general opinion seems to be that it is the first cultivated grain. Maybe it's because of that broad spectrum of locales where it can be grown.

So I was going to do barley, but rapidly realised that I had forgotten all about beer, whisky, malt, barley sugar, barley water, flour, so I have decided to just ignore them and concentrate on pearl barley, which, along with all those other fashionable grains, has become rather trendy, and which is the form in which we can mostly get it. Mind you I just had a quick look at Coles online to find that there are 8 pages of barley products from muesli to cat food and everything in between.

And why was I going to do barley anyway? It's not something I cook with much, although I probably should. Well I was allowed a few moments to watch The Cook and the Chef last night and there was Maggie Beer making a barley soup. I actually wasn't all that impressed with her soup, but I did remember that I had made a note to 'do' barley sometime. And I have used it occasionally with good effect.

Just a tiny bit of random historical things first. It was indeed grown all over the ancient world, from China to Egypt. In Egypt it was fed to the slaves as bread, and made into beer which was a very popular drink in Egypt. Also fed to gladiators in Roman times.

And the English used the barleycorn (the seed) as a measurement standard. According to Bert Greene:

"In the early 14th century, a royal fiat of the House of Tudor resolved 'All metric units be standardised as one inch being equal to three grains of barleycorn, laid end to end.'

The same decree also designated the running foot as being equal to 39 barleycorns, and the linear yard as being equal to 117 barleycorns. Presumably still end to end. ... Barleycorn remained the basis of all metric calibration in Great Britain and in America as well, for the next four hundred years."

I think he may have his initial date wrong, as the Tudors were not in power until the 15th century, but nevertheless, that's really interesting - and, as he says, bizarre.

So how do you cook with it? Well in thousands of different ways. A quick check of my earlier cookbooks showed a bit of a dearth of recipes for barley unless it was a traditional dish like cock-a-leekie. But check out all the modern chefs and they all have something. And interestingly, Bert Greene in his wonderful 1888 book, Greene on Grains covers most of the kind of things that pop up nowadays. He was a man ahead of his time.

Barley itself apparently has three layers covering the actual seed in the middle. The outer layer is inedible. Occasionally they leave the second layer on and this can be used, but you will need to soak this kind - I think its called hulled barley - overnight. It can be a bit chewy. The version we mostly get is pearl barley. This also needs a bit of presoaking and it can absorb 4 times its size in liquid, so is great as a thickener in all kinds of things. Originally I think it was mostly used in stews and soups but these days cooks have become a bit more inventive. So I checked out all my usual sources just to give you an idea:

Nigel Slater - Pearl barley kedgeree with smoked mackerel and Pearl barley bacon and taleggio

barley kedgeree

pearl barley cheese pancetta

Donna Hay has lots of recipes. Here are just three - elegant as always - Roasted cauliflower with barley and figs, Pearl barley and sauerkraut salad, Roasted eggplant with pearl barley, labne and pomegranate

roasted cauliflower w barley & figs

pearl barley & sauerdraut salad

roasted eggplant etc.

Jamie Oliver - Ale barley lamb shanks, Yotam Ottolenghi - Barley risotto with lemon, spinach and spicy breadcrumbs

ale barley lamb shanks

barley risotto

As you can see they are mostly substituting barley for rice. I haven't really got a stuffing recipe there but this also seemed to be a common thing. Salads, stews, soups like the one below and risotto kind of dishes seems to be the most common thing. Now we eat a lot of rice, and sometimes I find this a bit boring, so maybe I should try pearl barley every now and then instead. I have to say this soup looks rather more tempting than Maggie Beer's one, which was a mushroom soup.

And then I found this - ice cream! Now who would have thought of that?

It is interesting though is it not how there is this revival of interest in grains other than wheat and rice. I guess it began with the rise of muesli, and then everyone got excited about 'ancient grains' - well they still are, and now there is a revival of interest in poor people's grains like oats and barley and rye. Interestingly, Bert Greene, back in the 80s was already touting the benefits of quinoa. triticale and amaranth.

Also interestingly I somehow associate most grains with the Middle East and yet my Middle-Eastern gurus had nothing on barley. I have no doubt that it is grown there, and used there, but it didn't seem to be a big thing.

You will notice that as well as disregarding the drinks side of things, and barley sugar, I am also completely ignoring, for now anyway, barley flour - for yes that is a thing too.

Barley - big in Russia and Eastern Europe, big in China too, Australia now grows around 18% of the world's barley crop. And virtually every shelf in your supermarket will have a barley product on it.