Barley

Barley is a true cereal, a grass, and it does carry gluten, though a weaker kind than wheat. That's why barley bread stays dense and barley soup thickens on its own — the starch swells, some protein binds water, but there isn't enough structure to trap much air. Don't expect a loaf. Expect a stew that gets better on the second day.

Buy barley by look, not by the bag's promises. Pearl barley should be pale, almost ivory, with a soft, dull sheen; avoid grains that shine too brightly, since those feel slick and hard under the fingers instead of dry and smooth. Whole barley keeps its bran layer, tan and slightly rough. Smell it. Fresh barley smells like a field after rain, faint and clean. If it smells sharp or musty, it's old, or it's been sitting near spices in a warehouse.

Some people say barley is just a poor man's rice, interchangeable in any dish. No. Rice cooks soft and separate; barley stays chewy even fully cooked, and it releases starch as it simmers. Treat it like rice, drain it and forget it, and you throw away a natural thickener — the very thing that makes a proper barley soup rich without a spoonful of flour.