Barley Water
1/4 cup pearl barley 2 quarts cold water Thoroughly wash the barley, and let it soak in cold water for one hour or longer, then put it to cook in the two quarts of cold water. Let it come to a boil, and simmer slowly till reduced to one pint of liquid. Strain off the broth. Season with salt, reheat, and serve plain, or seasoned with a little cream.
One-fourth cup raisins or figs cut into dice may be cooked with the barley if desired, or a little lemon rind may be used and the broth sweetened with a little sugar.
A sickroom drink reduced from two quarts to one pint, which is the whole of the technique: the time is set by evaporation, not by the clock.
- The reduction is the recipeTwo quarts down to one pint at a bare simmer takes roughly 2 to 2 1/2 hours in an uncovered pan. Cover it and it will reduce very slowly if at all; boil it hard and the barley breaks up and clouds the liquid past straining.
- Pearl barleyStill sold under that name and unchanged — hulled and polished grain. Do not substitute pot barley or hulled barley, which keep more bran and give a darker, muddier broth.
- The soakAn hour in cold water softens the grain so it releases starch steadily. Discard the soaking water and start again with the measured two quarts, or the reduction figures will not hold.
- StrainingA fine sieve is enough; cheesecloth gives a clearer drink if you want it clear. The spent barley is edible and can go into soup rather than the bin.
- Yield and keepingOne pint, which is two servings hot or three or four as a cold drink. It sets to a light jelly in the refrigerator and thins again on warming; keep it no more than two days.
- The variationsThe lemon rind version wants only the yellow zest, added for the last twenty minutes or so — long cooking with pith turns it bitter. Sweeten after straining, when you can taste what you have.
- Salt or creamSalted and enriched with cream, this is closer to a thin broth than a beverage. Choose one direction or the other; salt with lemon and sugar is unpleasant.