Today I'm up for a quick. but very healthy and warming barley stew decided.
The Barley - The Urkorn
The barley (Hordeum vulgare) is one of the sweet grasses and is considered the oldest grain that was cultivated by man. According to archeological findings, barley was already around 800,000 years ago, in southern Central Asia and the Near East it was domesticated about 10,000 years ago. Therefore, the barley is often referred to as Urkorn.
In ancient Egypt, barley played an indispensable role as a staple food. The hieroglyph for barley therefore stood generally for the grain. Year after year, the first cut barley spears were sacrificed to Isis, Goddess of Fertility.
Even among the ancient Greeks, barley was the most important crop. The poet Homer called the barley meal "Mark of Men" in his Odyssey and, according to Plato, barley was the food of the philosophers. Both the Greek Olympians and the Roman gladiators used the barley to increase their strength and endurance.
The barley as a remedy
It was recognized early on that the barley is not only filling, but also beneficial. In antiquity, for example, Ptisane - a groat or a decoction of cooked barley barley - was used as a nutrient and remedy for acute diseases due to its good digestibility.
In addition, barley water, also known as Tisane, was until the 19th century an often prescribed drink for sick and weak people. The barley was boiled with water, the grain discarded and the liquid drunk.
The barley sprouts, however, was given a draining and antipyretic effect.
In Japan and Korea, to this day, barley tea is often drunk, for example, to prevent stress-related stomach ulcers. And in traditional Tibetan medicine, barley is considered beneficial because it stimulates the intestines.
Barley - The forgotten food
The barley is relatively rarely eaten here and enjoyed almost exclusively in the form of beer, whiskey or malt coffee. The displacement of barley by wheat began already in Roman times. One reason was that the wheat had better baking properties.
And so it happened that the barley degraded more and more to second class grain and was mainly used for beer production. As a productive cattle feed, barley is only estimated since the beginning of the 20th century.
Maybe the barley as food was ultimately forgotten because people in the post-war era ate enough of barley soup and then did not want to see or smell the barley anymore?
However, it is a fact that barley has never played a major role in the food industry and that is why wheat is inevitably on everyone's lips today.
Barley versus wheat
In the meantime, however, we are living in a time when more and more people are giving up wheat and paying more attention to other cereals, such as barley. This is also due to the fact that more wheat intolerances occur.
Although barley contains gluten like wheat, it does contain much less than this. For this reason alone, the barley is wholesome.
Barley:
- Healthy fiber
- Rich in vitamins and minerals
- Lowers the cholesterol level
- Protects the heart
- Strengthens the intestinal flora
- Lowers the risk of diabetes
- Cancer cells do not like barley
Ingredients for 5-6 people
- 1 onion
- 2 yellow turnips, carrots and parsley roots each
- 1 small piece of celeriac
- 10 cm leek
- 1 tbsp butter vegan
- 100 g smoked sausage vegan
- 200 g barley
- 1.5 liters vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
- 1 bunch of parsley, leaves finely chopped
Preparation
Peel onion and chop finely. Slice the yellow beets, carrots and parsley root, cut the celeriac into small diced pieces. Clean the leeks and also slice them.
Heat butter in a saucepan. Fry the onion for 5 minutes while turning. Add the smoked sausage and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Put vegetables in the pot together with the barley. Braise for one minute, then add vegetable stock and cook for about 20 minutes on low heat.
Season with salt and pepper and serve with parsley.
