Beef and Barley Stew

Barley is a key Irish grain: it’s what we make Guinness from, and dark-roasted barley is what gives Guinness its color. If you’ve ever been in Dublin and smelled that sort of smoky, half-burnt aroma on the air, it’s the wind blowing down the Liffey from the Guinness factory, carrying the scent of roasting barley across the city. An American guy I knew in Dublin once asked me, early in his tenure there, why he smelled so many fires all the time. When I sniffed the air and explained it was me