Orzo (from Latin
hordeum, sometimes called
Italian rice) is Italian and means "
barleyBarley is a cereal grain derived from the annual grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food. It is used in soups, stews and barley bread in various countries, such as Scotland and in Africa...
" , from which orzo was originally made. However, in common usage in the United States, orzo is understood to mean rice-shaped
pastaPasta is a generic term for foods made from an unleavened dough of flour and water, and sometimes a combination of egg and flour. Pastas include noodles in various lengths, widths and shapes, and varieties that are filled with other ingredients like ravioli and tortellini...
, slightly smaller than a
pine nutPine nuts are the edible seeds of pines . About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of great value as a human food....
. It is frequently used in
soupSoup is a food that is made by combining ingredients, such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth....
s and baked
casseroleA casserole, from the French for "saucepan," is a large, deep pot used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a vessel, with the cookware itself called a "casserole dish"...
s. Despite its rice shape, orzo is made not of rice but of hard wheat
semolinaSemolina is the purified middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta; also, the coarse middlings are used for breakfast cereals and puddings.-Name:...
. It is also known as
risone in Italian,
manéstra or
kritharáki ("little barley") in Greek, and
şehriye (in Turkish).
"Orzo" is also the name of a caffeine-free hot drink made from roasted barley in some parts of the world.
Orzo (from Latin
hordeum, sometimes called
Italian rice) is Italian and means "
barleyBarley is a cereal grain derived from the annual grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food. It is used in soups, stews and barley bread in various countries, such as Scotland and in Africa...
" , from which orzo was originally made. However, in common usage in the United States, orzo is understood to mean rice-shaped
pastaPasta is a generic term for foods made from an unleavened dough of flour and water, and sometimes a combination of egg and flour. Pastas include noodles in various lengths, widths and shapes, and varieties that are filled with other ingredients like ravioli and tortellini...
, slightly smaller than a
pine nutPine nuts are the edible seeds of pines . About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of great value as a human food....
. It is frequently used in
soupSoup is a food that is made by combining ingredients, such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth....
s and baked
casseroleA casserole, from the French for "saucepan," is a large, deep pot used both in the oven and as a serving vessel. The word casserole is also used for the food cooked and served in such a vessel, with the cookware itself called a "casserole dish"...
s. Despite its rice shape, orzo is made not of rice but of hard wheat
semolinaSemolina is the purified middlings of durum wheat used in making pasta; also, the coarse middlings are used for breakfast cereals and puddings.-Name:...
. It is also known as
risone in Italian,
manéstra or
kritharáki ("little barley") in Greek, and
şehriye (in Turkish).
Orzo roasted barley drink
"Orzo" is also the name of a caffeine-free hot drink made from roasted barley in some parts of the world. In
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, for instance, a "caffé d'orzo" is an
espressoCaffè espresso, espresso, is a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee....
style drink made from ground roasted barley. When prepared from the roasted barley directly, it can easily be made in many standard espresso or coffee makers. Although traditionally considered a
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
substitute for children, it is an increasingly common choice in Italy and other places for those who choose to eschew coffee for health reasons. In the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, instant roasted barley drinks are sold under the name of "Pero" and others, including varieties of "café de cebada" in Latin American markets.
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