I have, I must concede, a bit of a sympathy for barley.
I've probably always known it, but it wasn't something I was conscious of until last year some time when I finally got around to reading Jared Diamond's excellent Guns, Germs and Steel Among many other topics, the book charts the relative popularity of various dietary staples around the world, and how their relative hardiness influenced the success of the people who lived in that plant's indigenous region. There are other factors, of course, like the protein value of the pulses and legumes native to an area, and the plentitude of game animals available for hunting. Also, apparently, the success of a region's people when they came into contact with other cultures was influenced by whether they had big giant murderous guns as well. Who knew?
But the thing I kept coming back to was the barley. I mean, wheat is the big man on the grain campus. You can't ignore wheat. Wheat would come up during the Cold War in news broadcasts, with reports on the Russian wheat harvest and its implications on geopolitics. And you can't have Wonder Bread without wheat. (Well, mostly you can't have Wonder Bread without water. But there is some wheat in there, I'm assured.) Rice is of course the Big Kahuna of food plants. There's only two countries in the world that have more than a billion people, and they both got there by feeding all their people rice every day, for every meal.
You don't hear a lot about barley, though. I understand there's some barley-hops-beer connection, but I don't drink beer so that doesn't mean much to me. And I know a lot of equine and bovine types favor the barley. But as a human, I think the only time I consciously eat barley is in beef barley soup. Or, the other day, I had beef mushroom barley soup. But that was unusual, not just because it included mushrooms, but because Carson Daly was sitting about 10 feet away at the time. But I digress.
So I'm trying to think of ways to share my love of barley with the world. It's a perfect complement to a nice hearty soup, a good minestrone. It's got some give to it, some texture, but it's not crunchy. As tapioca balls enliven bubble tea, so too does barley present itself as the Cracker Jack prize of soup stock. I can't help thinking that there's a nobler life for barley, though, a calling that we haven't yet found. It'll never be glamorous, I'll concede; There's no Barley-Pop™ Frozen Treat in my future.
I haven't given up rooting for the little grain, though. Reading a historical review like Guns, Germs and Steel has that air of grim inevitability to it. I knew that barley wasn't going to triumph over wheat any more than the aborignal Americans were going to defeat the conquistadores. Didn't keep me from rooting for barley, though. I still have hope.
If you like barley, try kasha.
You're either (a) not much of a beer drinker, or (b) didn't grow up in a beer-producing town where field trips to the local factory / brewery were an annual ritual.
You have "hope" for barley. Pshaw.
Next time I will read the entire post, though. I swear. Honest.
Believe me, there is no nobler calling than beer. Wheat and rice are the volume distributors; barley is a specialty retailer. I think it even has a loyalty program and a handsomely illustrated quarterly catalog.
I'll try and overlook the beer thang but malted barley is what makes single-malt scotch happen. That is why barley will have a special place in my heart and, erm, liver too.
Two word.
Grape Nuts™
and
Horlicks™
Okay so that was more than two words, but these two products are barley-licious!
Krupnik - the king of soups!
http://www.netcooks.com/recipes/Soups/Barley.Soup.(Krupnik).html
Every Slav on the planet loves barley, thanks to natural selection.
Ah! Ha! Barley is loved by many! I have a whole bag of barley flour in my freezer that I regularly use for making Jen's version of Irish Soda Bread. For those of us who are wheat allergic, barley and oats become a savior esp. for making breads and cookies that need gluten to hold them together.
Please forgive my newbie-ness to movable type, but I am not sure how to track back on your site, but here is a link to a whole post that I wrote last week about wheat, barley and the like.
p.s. I love the Jared Diamond book from the how food and animals made their way around the globe.
My mother used to make delicious barley shake in summer times in India. First she boils the milk then to it she will add barliflour and sugar slowly stirring it continuously for few minutes, viola nutritious barley shake is ready.
Scotch was already mentioned. I can't believe we need to keep pointing out more uses for barley. That's like saying "I know we breath it, but isn't there another use for air?"
Kasha Varnishkas (sp?) is a traditional Jewish dish made with barley, bowtie noodles and gravy. Had some this weekend. :)
I would also like to point out the obvious joy of saying the word "barley" repeatedly, and very fast. It is a delightful and inexpensive way to entertain yourself.
roasted barley tea! order mugicha in japanese restaurants or bori-cha in korean restaurants...
barley water, even.
Anil, did barley beat you up and take your lunch money when you were a wee tot? If it wasn't for barley, we'd have to have Turkish delight as our weird Victorian sweet instead of barley candy, and then we'd get all Narnia-nostalgic and delighted Turks would come beat us up and take our lunch money.
If you're interested in more on cultural evolution, like Guns, Germs, and Steel, I recommend
nonzero by Robert Wright, which I'm reading right now. It's more of a bird's-eye-view of cultural evolution rather than discussing specific achievements, but very interesting.
I am championing quinoa; supergrain of the future®.
I like to use kamut, too. With it (and quinoa) I make a really wicked curried lentil and chickpea soup with coconut milk. Exquisite!
If you like barley, when you do visit Malaysia, try the local delicacy "barli ais" (iced barley) nyum nyum
Hmmm... i thought i will post my views on the lovely book Guns, Germs and Steel. but looking at past posts .......its barley all the the way:)
Kasha and HOT DOGS!
Ok, I came from a *very assimilated" nice Jewish family.
Being that you're such a barley fan, its really a shame you don't like beer. Of course, living in NY, you don't have many good reasons to like beer, nor do you have access to many beers not diluted with lessor grains. Come West young man. We (micro)brew our beer here with barley most of the time and the occasional wheat and oatmeal stout for variety, but never rice like Budwieser. Forget the Coors plant in my backyard though, that's all shipped out of state.
If you have a Japanese market nearby, stop in and get some barley tea - "Mugi Cha" they call it.
For me, it simply wouldn't be summer without a tall glass of the stuff over ice.
Cheers,
Jim
Guns, Germs, and Steel was one of my favorite assigned readings in graduate school. Several times, I've almost picked it for my book club pick. I think (in the right crowd) the book would provide some very poignant conversation about the world population and where we're headed. It's amazing.