Barley for Food and Health: Science, Technology, and Products

GREAT BRITAIN 219
2 to 3 cups milk or a mixture of milk and cream
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Spread layers of fresh cabbage leaves in a shallow pan. Combine the pearled
barley, salt, sugar, and milk and spread in a 1 2-inch layer on the cabbage leaves.
Bake at 350 ◦ F until the barley is soft. (Note by Hannu Ahokas: In the ancient
Finnish tradition, wild leaves of the white water lily were used to bake lehikäiset.)
Finnish Barley Pudding
This barley pudding dish can be eaten as a starchy alternative to potatoes, or can
be sweetened and eaten as a dessert with cream or milk. The recipe is common
in collections of international foods.
1 1 2
cups pearled barley
6 cups hot milk
1 tsp salt
cup butter
1
3
Optional for hot side dish: pepper to taste, or for a dessert: 1 2 to 3 4
cup sugar
and 1 tsp cinnamon if made as a dessert.
Soak the barley overnight, then bring to a boil in the same water. Add salt
and cook at a simmer until the barley begins to swell up. Gradually add the hot
milk and pepper, if used. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Transfer to a buttered baking dish, dot with butter and bake in a low oven (250 ◦ F),
about 2 hours, or until golden brown. If sweetened, add 1 2 to 3 4
cup sugar and
cinnamon before baking.
GREAT BRITAIN
Orkney Bere Bannocks
Bannocks are a type of flat bread from Scotland, particularly the Orkney Islands,
where a type of barley known as Bere has been used as food for centuries. Restaurants
in Orkney regularly serve Bere bannocks, and the Barony Mill, powered
by water, still grinds Bere into whole-grain meal. This recipe is from the Barony
Mill Web site: www.birsay.org.uk/baronymill.htm. “The bannocks o’ barley, bannocks
o’ bere meal, bannocks o’ barley, Here’s to the Hielandman’s bannocks
o’barley”—Old Scottish song
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Bere meal (or any whole-grain barley flour)