Barley and wheat delicious with chocolate (07/02/07)

Malted milk balls. As I crunched the last brown orb, I wondered what they were made from. The outside was obviously chocolate but what was that weird-looking stuff in the middle?

The internet told me that malted milk was created in the late 1800's as a health food. However, different sources disagreed on exactly which year.

A source cited as "The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink" said that malted milk was created as an easy-to digest baby food that was made from an extract of wheat and malted barley combined with milk. Lucky babies!

So what is malted barley? I know that barley is a grain because we used to grow fields of it. I remember picking fresh barley and eating it raw. It was very tasty. I also remember almost drowning in a wagon full of the stuff before we were chased away by one of the adults. I use barley today as an addition to soups and stews. I've heard it is good for me, besides I like the texture.

According to the dictionary malting is a process of treating grain. The grain is softened by steeping in water, then allowed to germinate. The malted grain is often used in brewing and distilling.

Does that mean that I have been eating mooshy barley all these years? That doesn't sound very appealing. When that is combined with that universal ingredient, corn syrup, and a few other things like vanilla and something called whey powder it becomes an ugly blob best surrounded by chocolate.

Then I made the mistake of looking up whey. Talk about something that sounds disgusting! Whey is the watery part of milk left when it separates as when making cheese. It is supposed to be rich in lactose, minerals, vitamins and has traces of fat. Ick. It gives me new respect for Little Miss Muffet. I think that spider was just an excuse to abandon her bowl curds and whey.

When whey is combined with all that other stuff it quickly goes from ick to yum. A handful of malted milk balls should be counted as a serving of grains and maybe even a serving of milk. I think that means they are good for you.

I know they are an instant stress reliever. It is so satisfying to smash the naked blob of malted milk with my teeth after nibbling away the layers of chocolate that are much thicker these days than they used to be.

It seems as if I have been eating malted milk balls my entire life. We used to ride the bus downtown when I was a little girl and stop at the candy counter in Kresge's. The meat market where my uncle Leroy worked also had a candy counter. If we didn't get malted milk balls we would pick up a sack full of licorice babies that were known by an extremely politically incorrect name. Of course, we called the malted milk balls by something else after we started raising rabbits. The candy was much smaller then and looked just like what we cleaned out of the rabbit cages. It didn't stop us from enjoying the yummy little spheres - the candy NOT the droppings!

It always surprises me that something as simple as a piece of candy can evoke so many memories. Malted milk balls are a treat that I used to share with my mother. She was so young and vibrant then. Her hair was the color of a fiery sunset and her walk was quick and sure. It was all I could do to keep up with her.

Many years have passed since then and she can no longer eat many of the treats we used to buy. Her hair is the color of new-fallen snow and her walk is halting and aided by a walker. I am finally taller than she, not to mention quicker. I slow my pace to hers and coddle her as much as I can.

Yet, when I stop to treat myself to a bit of candy, I am transported back to the days when the world was sunny and I was little. Those were the days when the only decision was whether to buy malted milk balls or licorice babies; when candy was a treat instead of a stress reliever. And when I had no idea what malted milk was.[[In-content Ad]]