Barley

About

Barley has a rich, earthy flavor with mild sweetness, though wheat has largely displaced it in many regions, partly for wheat's plainer, more neutral taste and partly for its gluten content, which gives bread its rise, pasta its structure, and cakes their crumb. Barley is still the world's tenth-largest crop by tonnage and is used to make malt, which in turn goes into beer, whisky, malted milk drinks, and malt syrup. Pot barley is the whole grain, only partly hulled with the germ intact; pearl barley is polished, softer, milder, and quicker to cook. Barley grows in places wheat cannot, such as Tibet, where it is toasted using hot sand for even browning and milled into tsampa flour, used for drinks, porridge, and flatbreads.

Pairs well with barley

• CiLemonLemon barley water dates to at least 1788; simmering pearl barley into the drink gives it a richer body and flavor.
• EaPotatoMulgipuder, an Estonian comfort dish, combines potato and pearl barley cooked together and mashed into a soft, chewy texture reminiscent…
• FrTomatoDakos (called paximadia elsewhere in Greece) is a very hard barley rusk that softens when topped with grated tomato, crumbled feta and…
• WoAlmondOrgeat, the almond-and-flower-water syrup used in cocktails like the Mai Tai, was originally made by simmering barley with almonds in…
• RoChocolateMalt, made by drying and toasting germinated barley, combines with chocolate in American soda-fountain malted milk drinks and confectionery.
• EaMushroomMushroom is barley's classic savory partner.
• ChCheeseBere, an ancient landrace barley from Orkney, is dried over a peat fire before milling into beremeal, giving it a dark, smoky flavor; the…
• EaCuminOdrajahu karask, an Estonian quick bread, is sometimes flavored with cumin to balance barley flour's natural sweetness.
• RoCoffeeDuring World War II, coffee shortages in Italy popularized caffe d'orzo, a coffee substitute made from roasted barley.
• BrMisoMugi, or barley, miso is darker and more savory than the sweeter white rice miso, and more traditionally associated with rural, winter…
• CrRaisinMalt loaf is a dense, sticky cake studded with raisins, its sweetness offset by a savory undertone from barley malt syrup -- the same…
• CrBananaBeremeal, flour milled from Orkney's traditional bere barley, pairs well with banana, according to Liz Ashworth, author of The Book of…
• MaSeaweedKelpie, a dark beer from Williams Bros.
• BeCranberryIn northern Finland, cranberry jam is traditionally spread on ohrarieska, a quick bread made from barley flour, pearl barley, buttermilk…
• WoOatBarley and oat, grown together as a mixed crop called 'dredge' in parts of Britain, share a tolerance for harsh weather.
• EaFava beanThe Roman physician Galen recorded feeding gladiators at Pergamon a diet heavy in boiled barley and fava beans, which he noted made them…
• FrYogurtKishk, a dried fermented yogurt product found across the Middle East, has a barley-based Bedouin variant called Matrouh kishk, made from…
• EaSplit peaAt the Copenhagen restaurant Noma, cooked barley inoculated with koji culture is used to make 'peaso' -- miso-making techniques applied to…