Orzo & Orzotto: Barley, Anyone?
I recently spent a week in Friuli Venezia Giulia as a guest of the Region's tourism board; it was a very interesting experience and they did a fine job of laying out a program that would be of interest to both wine and travel writers. Almost every meal we were served included barley in some form, generally as an orzotto, barley in a creamy sauce that makes it resemble a risotto, albeit with a chewier texture, and I finally asked Elda Felluga, president of the Consorzio del Collio (one of Friuli's wine appellations) about it. "It's one of our most important grains," she replied, adding that it was introduced by Jews who settled in Trieste.
On a more European scale, of course, barley is best known for its use in making beer. However, its use in grain form is very old, dating to prehistory, when people didn't know how to grind grain into flour and therefore simply boiled it until it softened enough to be edible. Now barley is treated before it's sold, and two kinds are readily available in Italy:
- Mondo, which translates as hulled barley; of the two grades it's the coarser and is generally used in soups. It's rich in fiber -- about 17 %, and has a number of high quality proteins as well.
- Perlato, pearled barley in English, has had the germ and much of the bran removed; the grains are round, and, by comparison with hulled barley, contain about 30% less nutrients. On the other hand, it cooks much faster than hulled barley, and is therefore often called for by recipes.
To return to Friuli,
Making an orzotto is fairly straight forward; to serve 4 you will need
about 300 g (2/3 pound, or 11 ounces) of pearled barley and a quart of
simmering water; begin by sautéing some minced onion in olive oil (as
you would if making a risotto), then add the barley and toast it for about 5
minutes. At this point stir in a first ladle of hot water and cook gently,
stirring, until the water has been absorbed; add more, and continue adding and
cooking until the barley has softened and given up some of its starch, which
will produce a creamy texture. At this point you can add cream or butter, the
way you would with a risotto, and also grated cheese. This for a plain orzotto;
you can also flavor your orzotto with a few tablespoons of finely chopped
herbs, sausages and cooked beans, mushrooms, or whatever else suits your fancy,
for example pureed spinach. Depending the cooking time of the flavoring you
use, either cook it separately and stir it in as the barley is cooking (I might
do this with sausage meat to eliminate some of the grease, for example, and
would certainly cook the spinach separately) or cook it and the barley
together. You can also add a splash or red or white wine to the barley the way
you would when making a risotto; if you do, add it before you add the water,
and cook it until the wine has evaporated. Figure a total cooking time of about
25 minutes.
As one might expect with a staple, there are many other Friulian dishes that feature barley. In particular, soups, and here are a few, fit for all seasons:
Barley Soup, or Minestron de Orzo
Barley is quite hardy, and therefore popular in the mountains above
Vicenza, where this is a standard simple soup.
Minestra di Orzo e Fagioli
A simple,
satisfying winter bean-and-barley soup that gains substance from potatoes
Minestrone di Orzo
A simple barley
soup cooked in milk and water.
Minestrone alla Friulana, con Orzo
A
tasty winter soup that combines barley and pancetta with the other
vegetables
Sòpe di Uàrdi e
Urtìes
A thick barley and nettle soup that will also
work well with other greens.
Minestra di Orzo e Piselli
This
barley and fresh pea soup will be perfect in late spring, when fresh peas hit
the markets.
A presto,
Kyle
Phillips
Got more sites / recipes to suggest? Let me know.
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