Crème d’Orge

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •2½ to 3-quart heavy casserole with a tight-fitting lid
• •Small saucepan for the garnish barley
• •Food processor with at least an 8-cup bowl
• •8 to 10-inch fine-mesh sieve
• •Flexible bowl scraper or sturdy ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the barley

   Put the coarse pearl barley in a sieve and wash it thoroughly under lukewarm water, rubbing the grains gently between your fingers until the runoff loses most of its cloudiness. Rinse the fine garnish barley separately. Washing removes loose surface starch that would turn the long-cooked barley gummy before its centre has softened.

2. 2

   Cook at a tremble

   Heat the oven to 275°F (135°C). Combine the coarse barley, 2⅜ cups (570 ml) of the prepared white consommé, and the celery in a small heavy casserole. Bring the liquid just to a bare simmer, press a round of baking parchment against the surface, cover tightly, and cook in the oven for about 2½ hours, stirring every 30 minutes. The grains are ready only when they crush into paste beneath a spoon with no firm centre remaining. If the pot grows dry first, add the reserved consommé two tablespoons at a time and subtract that amount from the later addition. If the bottom begins to catch, lift the unscorched barley into a clean pan without scraping the dark layer, lower the heat, and continue. Ça se rattrape.

   The low oven replaces the saucier who once guarded this pot continuously. Keep the lid tight and the heat gentle; evaporation, not the recipe, is what makes this quantity of liquid seem alarming.
3. 3

   Prepare the whole grains

   While the main barley cooks, combine the fine pearl barley with the water in a small saucepan. Hold it at a quiet simmer for 45 to 60 minutes, adding a little more water if necessary, until every grain is completely tender but still distinct. Drain well and reserve. This is the garnish, so tenderness matters more than speed.

4. 4

   Crush and pass

   Let the cooked barley stand for 10 minutes, then process it with the softened celery and any liquid remaining in the pot until it becomes a dense, even paste. Work in batches if necessary. Rub the paste through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, scraping the underside frequently. If it refuses to pass, loosen each batch with spoonfuls from the reserved consommé, counting them against the quantity used in the next step. Stop when only dry husks remain in the sieve; forcing those through would undo the smoothness you have worked for.

   A food processor replaces the mortar, and a sturdy fine-mesh sieve replaces the tammy. Those tools were brigade scaffolding. The thorough cooking and final passing are the dish, and neither can go.
5. 5

   Dilute with consommé

   Whisk the remaining prepared white consommé into the sieved barley purée, using all that remains of the second 2⅜-cup (570 ml) portion. Heat gently while stirring until the soup is completely unified and coats a spoon heavily. If it is already loose, simmer it gently before adding any cream; the cream should relax the texture, not rescue a watery base.

6. 6

   Finish with cream

   At serving time, lower the heat and whisk in 1½ cups (360 ml) of the cream. Add more as needed until the Crème d’Orge falls from the ladle in a broad ribbon and settles with a satin gloss, neither porridge-thick nor watery. Do not let it boil hard. If it tightens into paste while waiting, whisk in warm cream a spoonful at a time; barley keeps drinking even after the heat is lowered. Taste, adding salt only if the consommé did not provide enough.

7. 7

   Garnish and serve

   Warm the drained whole barley grains with a ladleful of soup. Divide most of them among warmed soup plates, ladle the Crème d’Orge over them, and scatter the remaining grains across the surface so the identity of the soup remains visible. No herbs, pepper, or ornamental flourish is needed. À table!

Chef Tips

• •The white consommé is the foundation. It should be pale, clear, lightly gelatinous, and gently seasoned; a dark roasted beef stock turns the soup brown and overwhelms the barley.
• •Use coarse pearl barley for the purée and the finest pearl barley you can find for the garnish. Quick-cooking barley softens unevenly during the long cook and gives the passed soup a dull, pasty texture.
• •Do not stop at the food processor. The sieve catches the barley husks and creates the distinction between a puréed grain soup and a true Crème d’Orge. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, but it is exact.
• •Serve this without a noisy garnish. The small whole grains are enough. A restrained dry white wine, such as Chablis, sits comfortably beside its cream and gentle cereal sweetness.

Advance Preparation

• •The barley may be cooked, processed, passed, and diluted with consommé up to two days ahead. Chill the base promptly and keep it covered; add the cream only while reheating for service.
• •The whole garnish barley can be cooked a day ahead, drained thoroughly, and chilled separately. Warm it in a little soup just before serving.
• •Finished Crème d’Orge keeps for three days in the refrigerator. Reheat it over low heat and expect it to thicken; loosen it patiently with warm cream or prepared white consommé.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 245g)