The Latin word cibāta came to our language as barley . Latin word that, in turn, comes from the verb "cibare", which can be translated as "feed" or "fatten farm food."
This is how a plant is known that belongs to the family group of grasses and that, due to its characteristics, resembles wheat .
Barley, whose scientific name is Hordeum vulgare , is a cereal : a grass that is grown especially to use its grain as food. In this case, barley is among the five most cultivated cereals.
The canes of barley, which can measure half a meter, have flexible spikes, with seeds that end in a point. The barley harvest takes place in the summer season.
The cultivation of barley is believed to have begun in Ancient Egypt . Other ancient peoples , such as the Romans and Greeks , also cultivated and used barley as food. Currently Germany and France are the main producers worldwide. On the American continent, the largest producers of barley are Canada , the United States and Argentina .
The most frequent use of barley is in the production of beer , whiskey and gin . Barley is used in processes such as malting, distillation and wort generation. With this cereal you can also make bread (the so-called barley bread ), produce a flour known as máchica and obtain drinks such as kvass and barley water .
Another use of barley is in livestock farming , where the cereal is used to feed pigs and other animals .
In addition to all the above, we can point out that in Madrid there is an emblematic place that responds to the name of the Cebada Market. It is one of the largest and most important markets in the Spanish capital and is located in the Plaza de la Cebada, located in the famous La Latina neighborhood.
In 1868, construction of this aforementioned building began, at the hands of the architect Mariano Calvo y Pereira. It was inaugurated by King Alfonso XII on June 11, 1875 and then restored in 1958.
It has about 6,000 square meters, it has two main floors, as well as another that serves as a warehouse and another as a parking lot. Aesthetically it surprises and attracts attention due to its several red vaulted roofs as well as the large mural made by Carlos Rincón where some of the main monuments of Madrid appear reflected.
As we have mentioned, this market is located in the Plaza de la Cebada, which owes its name to the fact that in one of its surrounding streets the barley that was destined to feed the king's horses was separated from that I was going to use it to do the same with the horses of the cavalry regiments. Plaza in which one of the most important theaters in the city is also located: the Teatro de La Latina.