Not until we’d ground them to a pulp and extracted all the goodness....A food technologist will tell you that it's just a cheap filler with no taste and very little nutritional value. You might as well put sugar puffs in your stew, at least they taste of something
Pearly.....I was born in london so to anyone up north i am supposed to be a "cockney" although i've nether consided myself to be one.
I have nether heard of pearl barley being a "cockney" thing unlike pie and mash where i get slated because i prefer gravy to liquor.