I’ve been borrowing a lot of medieval cookbooks lately, through the library I work at, and also ploughing through websites and generally having a good old medieval surf! I was looking at the latest information about the gorgeous kitchens at Kew and Hampton Court Palaces (when I was at HCP a few years ago I saw the most enormous mortar & pestle, amazing), and I saw that they now have videos and recipes for a couple of authentic recipes from the Georgian and Tudor eras.
I made the Soupe Barley from the Kew kitchens page, as it seemed so easy but nourishing – barley’s such great Winter comfort food – mind you, it’s stinking hot here at this time of year so doesn’t really go with that, but oh well never mind. I’ll be over there in May and Kew Palace/Gardens is on my list as a place to visit this time, can’t wait.
The soup was very easy and tasted good. The inclusion of a few raisins I found quite interesting and it did add a bit of a sweet flavour, without being overpowering. I did add a little fresh thyme at the end as well, which seemed to me to go with the barley and also be in keeping with the era.
It was intended to be a starter, and I can well imagine how the Georgian upper classes must have felt SO full after eating an array of courses, if just the starter was as filling as this broth!
You can find the recipe here.
This week I also tried out a barley soda bread recipe from a cookbook I got last year, but it was a failure, so I’m not sharing it with you!
Happy Summer (or not) Fooding!
