and purple-grained barleys, some of which are made into drinks Water simmered with raw or roasted barley has been enjoyed for two thousand years or more, from western Europe to Japan The barley grain is notable for containing significant quantities — about 5% each of the grain weight — of two carbohydrates other than starch: the pentosans that give rye flours their stickiness, and the glucans that give oats their gelatinous and cholesterol-lowering qualities (pp 470, 471) Both are found in the walls of endosperm cells as well as in the bran, and together with barley’s waterinsoluble proteins they contribute to the distinctively springy texture of the cooked grain They also cause barley flour to absorb twice the water that wheat flour does Pearled Barley There are hull-less barleys, but most food varieties have adherent hulls that are removed as part of the milling process Barley has more of its grain removed than does rice, the other grain frequently prepared as a whole grain This is partly because barley bran is brittle and doesn’t come off in large flakes, so it can’t be removed during normal milling; and partly because processors eliminate the deep crease in the barley grain to give it a more uniform appearance The process of “pearling” in a stone mill removes the hull and then portions of the bran “Pot barley” has lost 7–15% of the grain, but retains the germ and some of the bran, and so more nutrients and flavor Fine pearled barley has lost the bran, germ, and aleurone and subaleurone layers, a loss of about 33% of the grain’s initial weight Food Words: From Barley Water to Orgeat, Horchata, Tisane The European habit of drinking barley water has mostly faded away, but it lives on in the names of several other beverages ... of the bran “Pot barley” has lost 7–15% of the grain, but retains the germ and some of the bran, and so more nutrients and flavor Fine pearled barley has lost the bran, germ, and aleurone and. .. and partly because processors eliminate the deep crease in the barley grain to give it a more uniform appearance The process of “pearling” in a stone mill removes the hull and then portions of. .. germ, and aleurone and subaleurone layers, a loss of about 33% of the grain’s initial weight Food Words: From Barley Water to Orgeat, Horchata, Tisane The European habit of drinking barley water has