sweetness and unusual flavor The stalks are cut while the grains are still moist inside, the grains charred over a small straw fire to weaken the husks and add flavor, then eaten fresh or dried for keeping (Turkish firig, Arab frikke) Barley Barley, Hordeum vulgare, may have been the first cereal to be domesticated in the grasslands of southwest Asia, where it grew alongside wheat It has the advantage of a relatively short growing season and a hardy nature; it’s grown from the Arctic Circle to the tropical plains of northern India It was the primary cereal in ancient Babylon, Sumeria, Egypt, and the Mediterranean world, and was grown in the Indus valley civilization of western India long before rice According to Pliny, barley was the special food of the gladiators, who were called hordearii, or “barley eaters”; barley porridge, the original polenta, was made with roasted flaxseed and coriander In the Middle Ages, and especially in northern Europe, barley and rye were the staple foods of the peasantry, while wheat was reserved for the upper classes In the medieval Arab world, barley dough was fermented for months to produce a salty condiment, murri, that food historian Charles Perry has discovered tastes much like soy sauce Today, barley is a minor food in the West; half of production is fed to animals, and a third is used in the form of malt Elsewhere, barley is made into various staple dishes, including the Tibetan roasted barley flour tsampa, often eaten simply moistened with tea; it’s an important ingredient in the Japanese fermented soy paste miso; and in Morocco (the largest per capita consumer) and other countries of north Africa and western Asia it’s used in soups, porridges, and flat breads In Ethiopia there are white, black, ...“barley eaters”; barley porridge, the original polenta, was made with roasted flaxseed and coriander In the Middle Ages, and especially in northern Europe, barley and rye were the staple foods of the peasantry, while wheat was... tsampa, often eaten simply moistened with tea; it’s an important ingredient in the Japanese fermented soy paste miso; and in Morocco (the largest per capita consumer) and other countries of north Africa and. .. Today, barley is a minor food in the West; half of production is fed to animals, and a third is used in the form of malt Elsewhere, barley is made into various staple dishes, including the Tibetan roasted barley flour