Barley water came to my attention only recently when I was reading a column called "The People's Pharmacy" in The Dallas Morning News. A woman writing in to the column said she'd read that it gives you a clearer complexion and tried it with success, and the writers corroborated this. I've never had major problems with acne--in fact, I think I've been quite lucky--but seeing as how I'm 29-3/4 years old and desperate to do anything I can to preserve, protect, and perfect my skin (short of buying overpriced, carcinogenic beauty creams or going to a dermatologist) I was all for trying this. I researched barley water online first--apparently it's a longtime British favorite (or favourite, ha)--and I found a few recipes which I ended up combining into this:
1/4 C. pearl barley
2 C. water
1 large lemon, for juice and zest (I used a Meyer lemon simply because the day I went to the store, the regular lemons looked like crap, and the Wikipedia entry on barley water says "lemon or other fruit")
honey, to taste (I think I used about 2 tbsp.)
I poured the water into a medium-sized pot (a skillet, actually--I don't have a lot of kitchen stuff) and let it heat up while I zested the lemon with a serrated paring knife (again, not a lot of kitchen stuff) and let the thin flakes of zest fall into the water. By the time I was done with that, the water was good and boiling, so I stirred in the barley, covered the pot (with a mismatched lid--see above), turned the heat way down, and let it all bubble away gently for about half an hour as shown below:
I let everything cool for just a little while before straining the mixture through a fine mesh strainer (with thanks to Grandma, Christmas 2012) and into my lovely 2 C. Pyrex measuring cup (Mom, summer before college), and added the juice of the lemon (which I had squeezed into a separate bowl first so I could fish the seeds out), and the honey:
(Nothing says "refreshing" like opacity!!)
I couldn't resist trying a bit the barley water before I chilled it. I think it would make a good warm winter beverage that way. It's like lemonade, but instead of being sour, it's hearty... or something. It's the kind of thing you sip and think, "Oh that's good! What's that flavor?" And you sip it again and again trying to catch all the lovely little sensations and memories that the flavors bring about. Part of this comes from the fact that barley is often an ingredient in soup, so you don't expect to find that flavor-idea in a beverage. The other part I attribute to the Meyer lemon, which looks and tastes like a cross between a lemon and an orange (and may in fact be, although it was "discovered" in China, by Frank Meyer, an American "agricultural explorer," instead of being intentionally crossed). Using the Meyer lemon made the barley water lemony without being sour or harsh, and added a faint but pleasant flavor of orange.
Chilled, the beverage was, in fact, quite refreshing!:
(though still opaque)
A+
(I plan to try this with a million types of fruit.)
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