SC - barley

[Stefan li Rous]

Gwyneth asked:
> 
> Although this is OT for our current religious discussion, I was wondering
> if you could help me answer a question for a lady here.
> She is wanting to know if Barley is period.  She has a recipe for chicken
> and barley stew.  

According to Waverly Root in "Food", most definitely. Among some of what
he says:

"Barley was the chief grain from which the Hebrews made bread".

"Barley was the chief grain of the Greeks in the most distant times of
which we have knowledge, and was apparently endowed with a religious
significance."

"Barley was the chief bread grain of continental Europe until the
sixteenth century, as important in the European economy as is rice
in many Asian countries today. It was first brought to America in
1543 by the second Spanish governor of Colombia."

"Barley lost much of its importance for breadmaking when leavened
bread became common, for its low gluten content makes it refractory
to the action of yeast."

"Though it is true that more than half the world's barley today goes
to feed cattle (and a large part of the rest to make beer), there
are still many parts of the world where barley remains an important
human food, especially in regions where wheat is not easy to grow."

Although if I take quotes three and four above at face value,
it seems to be saying that leavened bread did not become common
until just before the sixteenth century. Does this mean that much
of the bread in period was not leavened? Or does this mean most
of the grain was eaten as gruel and porridges rather than as bread?

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================