you can find the mushrooms just about everywhere. Whole foods, any local specialty store. If you're near the north end, try Monica's on salem or the Salumeria (sp) on Richmond.
Most supermarkets should have pearled barley - check with the dried beans.
I buy my dried porcini at Salumeria Italiana in the North End because I use a LOT, but you should be able to find them at most supermarkets as well - check in the produce section, with the dried chiles and suchlike.
It's kind of apples/oranges - I cook with fresh mushrooms a lot as well, but dried porcini have a rich flavor that permeates the dish in a way that fresh mushrooms (even the very-hard-to-find fresh porcini) don't. I mainly use them in risotto, occasionally in soups or stews.
If you end up at the Salumeria on Richmond, you can pick up a box of porcini bouillon cubes as well. They are very hard to find outside of certain regions of Italy (like Tuscany), and will also add the flavor you're looking for to soups and stews.
Polcari's in the North End should have both. So should Salumeria Italiano, but I find Polcari's to be a little cheaper on bulk items - which both of these should be.
I don't know if either ever supped with either porcini mushrooms or pearled barley (though perhaps the barley) but the question brought to my mind two great entertainers: Mini Pearl and Pearl Bailey. I hope they both are having a grand time performing and singing in the heavenly Hee Haws and eternal cinemas.
in the South End and Southie carry both. Dried mushrooms in the produce section. For the barley, look for the Bob's Red Mill grains in clear cellophane packages.
Hey, I don't mind being helpful, but I don't think I've ever been to a supermarket without barley. Right next to the dried beans every time. Dried porcinis are slightly rarer, but I have seen them at the shaws on comm ave in allston, central square, and fenway, the whole foods on Beacon st near the fens, washington st in brighton, and the big one in cambridgeport, and I'm pretty sure both the TJ's in Coolidge Corner and Cambridgeport.
I know human interaction may be scary, but it isn't that hard to pick up a phone and CALL the supermarket in your neighborhood. As kind-hearted as faceless internet folks can be, the employees will actually know for sure, and won't suggest driving to exotic locales such as Inman or Maine for basic ingredients.
pearl barley. Barley that has undergone less of the polishing (pearling) to remove the outer hull than pearl barley is usually labeled "barley groats" and has a light brown color.
Thus, the plain ol' barley that Goya sells, for instance, and is easily found in with the dried beans, is also pearled. (Something I just figured out today.) There are degrees of pearling: it can be refined further to make smaller-bore kernels. But if it's white, it's pearl barley.
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anywhere
you can find the mushrooms just about everywhere. Whole foods, any local specialty store. If you're near the north end, try Monica's on salem or the Salumeria (sp) on Richmond.
Barley
Most supermarkets should have pearled barley - check with the dried beans.
I buy my dried porcini at Salumeria Italiana in the North End because I use a LOT, but you should be able to find them at most supermarkets as well - check in the produce section, with the dried chiles and suchlike.
Doing Mushrooms
I love cooking with fresh mushrooms, but I've never tried that kind. What makes them so magical, and what's your favorite way to prepare them?
Dried porcini
It's kind of apples/oranges - I cook with fresh mushrooms a lot as well, but dried porcini have a rich flavor that permeates the dish in a way that fresh mushrooms (even the very-hard-to-find fresh porcini) don't. I mainly use them in risotto, occasionally in soups or stews.
The stop and shop in
The stop and shop in brookline on harvard has both of these. Neither are particularly obscure ingredients
bouillon cubes
If you end up at the Salumeria on Richmond, you can pick up a box of porcini bouillon cubes as well. They are very hard to find outside of certain regions of Italy (like Tuscany), and will also add the flavor you're looking for to soups and stews.
Porcini cubes
Yes! I love those porcini cubes! They are great in so many things.
Christina's
Christina's in Inman (the spice shop, not the ice cream store, even though they're next to each other and the same thing).
Russo's in Watertown
I know I've bought pearled barley, and they have a great mushroom selection. I'd give them a call.
Russo's
Yes, Russo's has an excellent selection of fresh mushrooms and several different types of dried mushrooms as well.
Polcari's
Polcari's in the North End should have both. So should Salumeria Italiano, but I find Polcari's to be a little cheaper on bulk items - which both of these should be.
Two of the lovelient ladies of American entertainment culture
I don't know if either ever supped with either porcini mushrooms or pearled barley (though perhaps the barley) but the question brought to my mind two great entertainers: Mini Pearl and Pearl Bailey. I hope they both are having a grand time performing and singing in the heavenly Hee Haws and eternal cinemas.
Harvest CO-OP
they should at least have barley -
Foodies Urban Markets
in the South End and Southie carry both. Dried mushrooms in the produce section. For the barley, look for the Bob's Red Mill grains in clear cellophane packages.
Um, the local Stop & Shop?
Um, the local Stop & Shop?
These are pretty basic ingredients.
Phone Broken?
Hey, I don't mind being helpful, but I don't think I've ever been to a supermarket without barley. Right next to the dried beans every time. Dried porcinis are slightly rarer, but I have seen them at the shaws on comm ave in allston, central square, and fenway, the whole foods on Beacon st near the fens, washington st in brighton, and the big one in cambridgeport, and I'm pretty sure both the TJ's in Coolidge Corner and Cambridgeport.
I know human interaction may be scary, but it isn't that hard to pick up a phone and CALL the supermarket in your neighborhood. As kind-hearted as faceless internet folks can be, the employees will actually know for sure, and won't suggest driving to exotic locales such as Inman or Maine for basic ingredients.
Also, if it says "barley", it's probably
pearl barley. Barley that has undergone less of the polishing (pearling) to remove the outer hull than pearl barley is usually labeled "barley groats" and has a light brown color.
Thus, the plain ol' barley that Goya sells, for instance, and is easily found in with the dried beans, is also pearled. (Something I just figured out today.) There are degrees of pearling: it can be refined further to make smaller-bore kernels. But if it's white, it's pearl barley.
Uncooked Pearled Barley
Has anyone ever seen cooked pearled barley in the market? Now that would be something obscure but dried? c'mon dude!