[Sca-cooks] Barley Water

Michael Gunter countgunthar at hotmail.com
Tue Nov 13 12:54:09 PST 2007


> Your menu sounds so wonderful. Wish I could attend! Are you going to > make your own barley water? Do you have a recipe?> Phillipa
I'll be having as much made from scratch as possible for this feast.
Since the dishes aren't too fancy I want to make it up with having
it all homemade and good tasting.
 
We talked about Barley Water on the list some time back so you could
check the Archives or Stefan's Florithingy. This is from the class notes on
the Period Non-Alcoholic Drinks class I taught last Spring.
 
Cariadoc has been given proper attribution to this in the notes as I used his recipe as the base:
 
Barley Water
1/2 cup pearl barley water, to rinse barley 10 additional cups cold water1 whole ripe lemon, to be juiced and the rind used1/3 cup (approx) additional lemon juice (more on this later)1/2 to 1 cup honey
Rinse the pearl barley under running water. Scrub the lemon to make sure the rind is clean.Put the rinsed barley in a pan or pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and let simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.Put the simmered barley in another large pot and add the 10 cups cold water. Grate the rind from the lemon into the water, careful not to get any of the white pith. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover well, and let simmer on low for 60 minutes. Check it occasionally to make sure it’s not boiling too hard - you don’t want to lose too much liquid.Roll the lemon (now minus the rind), pressing it with your palm, on a countertop or cutting board to release the juices inside. Juice the lemon and add enough extra lemon juice to make at least 3/4 cup of juice.To the barley water in the large pot, add the lemon juice and sugar (or honey); stir until dissolved. Taste the liquid and add any additional lemon juice to your preference.
Pour the barley water through a strainer into a pitcher, retaining the barley. 
I have found that if you bring the temperature down a bit then use a 2 liter soda bottle it works very well.You can enjoy the barley water as a hot drink like tea, pour over ice for a refreshing drink on a hot day, or chill in the refrigerator. The flavor is a lemony sweet/sour and is very close to the Orange Barley Water I’ve bought commercially. I like it diluted with a bit of water and poured over ice but Elizabeth enjoys it full strength.
Recipe makes approximately 2 liters of “Barley Soda.”
 
I love this stuff. But I'm working on a non-lemon version since we may also have the period lemonade as well. 
 
Gunthar

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