[Sca-cooks] barley water

Johnna Holloway johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu
Tue Nov 27 04:02:19 PST 2007


It turns in the dietaries for all sorts of reasons, including this:
The Seconde Part of the Secretes of Master Alexis of Piemont
[London, 1560]
To make wemens milke encrease.
TAke Fenell seede, and seeth it in barleywater, and giue the woman
drinke of it, and her milke shall encrease abondantly.

It's also a fever drink.

Johnnae

Heleen Greenwald wrote:
> Thanks for the good explanation Master A!  Can you explain to me  
> though, why people would want to drink "...basically water boiled  
> with barley until it has taken on a  starchy, slightly mucilaginous  
> viscosity..."  sounds.... uhm, like something that I have to drink as  
> a prep before a certain test that I have to take every year.  <trying  
> to be delicate here.>
>
> I've never tasted actual barley water myself, but I have seen/heard  
> it referred to in  UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS as a drink for young women in  
> lieu of wine/fortified wine.
>
> Phillipa
>




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