Barley broth is comforting

Press, 25 August 1983, Page 17

Barley broth is comforting

Alison Holst’s

Food Facts

I like the term “comfort food.” Everybody must have a few favourite foods that remind them of happy times in their childhood.

The other day I decided that what I needed to fix everything the matter with me was a great big pot of mutton and barley broth.

This soup brought back memories of cold Dunedin winter days, opening the door to the aroma of soup, getting a bowlful straight from the pot, and sitting talking by the fire while the soup warmed me inside.

I asked the butcher for half a dozen shanks, and a few extra bones as well. He chopped the shank bones in half and obligingly added a few other bones to my pile.

In my largest saucepan I made a bed of the bones, then laid the shanks on top of them. I put in about a litre of water for each shank then started on my round of the cupboards, refrigerator and spice shelves for other additions. It was then that I surprised myself, rejecting any untraditional ingredients.

For each pair of shanks I added a large chopped onion, skin, roots and all, a rib of celery, a sliced carrot and a large clove of garlic. The only ingredient from my spice shelves was pepper — a couple of black peppercorns for each shank, roughly crushed in my pestle and mortar.

I wanted to start the barley cooking with the shanks, but I didn’t want it to “catch” on the bottom of the pot. I wanted every grain later, when the vegetables and bones would be sieved and discarded so I lowered a large sieve into the saucepan and tipped the barley (two tablespoonfuls for each shank) into this.

It didn’t matter that the sieve handle poked out the side of the pot, while the barley, or most of it, was immersed in the stock, because I simmered the soup very slowly for 3 to 4 hours,

so very little steam escaped. As soon as the shanks were so tender I could lift the meat easily from them, I lifted them out with tongs and cut away the meat, returning the bones to the soup pot for a couple more hours of boiling. When the meat' had cooled I cut it into small pieces and put it in another large saucepan, with the barley from the sieve which was now every tender.

When I decided that there must be nothing of worth left on the bones or in the vegetables (after a total of about six hours) I strained the liquid on to the meat and barley. I added small quantities of neatly cubed carrot, onion and celery, and about a cup of chopped parsley and boiled my soup, adding salt and a few fresh herbs to taste, until these vegetables were just tender. Then I left the soup pot in a cold place over night, so the fat solidified on top. Soup like this involves a reasonable amount of time, but everyone enjoyed it so much I decided it was well worth it.

Stored in preserving jars in the refrigerator, it provided mugs and bowls of soup for lots of people. If you prefer it when you make “shank soup” you can lift the shanks from the broth and serve the meat with parsley sauce and vegetables for a meal, returning the bones for further boiling later. This may be more economical but I prefer finding chunks of meat between the vegetables and barley — it’s all a matter of taste.

If you can, add more finely chopped parsley to each serving as the soup is reheated. Add herbs and garlic to taste — leaving them out if you want strictly traditional English “barley broth.” You can add other vegetables such as leeks and swedes without straying from traditional paths, though.