Horchata

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Two large jars of aguas frescas in a taqueria in Seattle, Washington, USA. On the left is a jar of jamaica and on the right is a jar of horchata. Restaurant employees serve the drinks by ladling them from the jars into glasses.

Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of vegetable beverages, made of ground almonds, rice, barley or tigernuts (chufas).

1 Etymology
2 Spain
3 Latin America
4 Recipes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Etymology

The name comes from Catalan orxata, probably from ordiata, made from ordi (barley) (Latin *hordeata < hordeum). The French and English 'orgeat', the Italian 'orzata', and the Surinamese Dutch orgeade have the same origin, though the beverages themselves have diverged, and none of them are typically made from barley anymore.[1]

According to a folk etymology, James I of Aragon was offered a glass of the beverage by an Arab girl after his conquest of Valencia, and exclaimed, Això és or, xata! (This is gold, girl!).

[edit] Spain

In Spain, it usually refers to orxata de xufes (horchata de chufas), made from tigernuts, water and sugar. Originally from Valencia, it is served ice cold as a refreshment. It has a regulating council[2] to ensure the quality of the product and the villages where it can come from, with the Denomination of Origin. The village of Alboraia is well known for the quality of their horchatas. The idea of making horchata from tigernuts comes from the period of Muslim presence in Valencia (from the 8th to 13th century).

[edit] Latin America

In Central American and Mexican cuisine, horchata is a rice-based beverage. While the drink is usually white and "milky", some recipes call for milk, and others do not. Other ingredients often include sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla, orange or lime. Though horchata was once typically homemade, it is now available in both ready-to-drink (shelf-stable or refrigerated) and powdered form in grocery stores.

In the US, rice-based horchata is served in some Mexican restaurants, and the horchata de chufas is virtually unknown. Rice-based horchata is also sometimes available in US grocery and convenience stores, especially those in Latino neighborhoods. Kern's Nectars, best known for its fruit nectars, has introduced several flavors of horchata in 2006 to cater to the growing Latino market. [3][4]

The horchata found in Ecuador is similar to the Mexican kind, but sesame seeds are used instead of almonds. In El Salvador, horchata is typically flavored with Morro (Calabash tree) seed, ground cocoa and cinnamon as well as sesame seeds, and in some cases is strained; this style is served in Salvadoran restaurants, particularly in the Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. metro areas.