Barilla
Original title: Barrilha
Entry on 'barrilha', the Madeiran name for several saltwort-type plants (Mesembryanthemum and Suaeda species) formerly burned to produce crude soda for soap-making.
Throughout the Madeira archipelago this name is given to Mesembrianthemum nodiflorum, M. crystallinum and Suaeda fruticosa. The first two plants belong to the family Aizoaceas, while the last, which is woody, belongs to the Quenopodeaceas. Soda was formerly extracted from these plants by drying them in the sun and then burning them in pits dug in the ground. Once the materials making up the barilla (saltwort burned for soda; barrilha) had been burned, a hard, alkaline substance remained on cooling, called crude soda, which Madeirans called pedra de barrilha (barilla stone) or pedra de fazer sabão (soap-making stone). The crude soda was decarbonated with lime.