flipHorchata de chufa (Tiger Nut Milk)
Horchata de chufa (Tiger Nut Milk)
Why this dish? An emblematic drink from the Spanish Levant (Valencia), horchata is the sweet refreshment of scorching Spanish afternoons. It completes, on the sweet side, the Mediterranean and sunny universe in which Picasso grew up and cherished all his life.
A milky-white plant milk, obtained by grinding soaked tiger nuts (small tubers), sweetened and perfumed with a strip of lemon zest and a hint of cinnamon. Creamy, cool, thirst-quenching.
When the afternoon heat crushes you and you can no longer hold a brush, they hand you a tall glass of horchata, ice-cold — white as milk, sweet, perfumed with lemon. It comes from the earth, those little chufas that you grind and press, and it sets you right better than coffee. One sip, and the world becomes bearable again.
- •Tiger nuts (chufas) — one measure (base of the plant milk)
- •Water — in proportion (infusion and grinding)
- •Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Lemon zest — a strip (flavor)
- •Cinnamon — a pinch (warm spice)
Horchata de chufa (Tiger Nut Milk)
A milky-white plant milk, obtained by grinding soaked tiger nuts (small tubers), sweetened and perfumed with a strip of lemon zest and a hint of cinnamon. Creamy, cool, thirst-quenching.
Why this dish? An emblematic drink from the Spanish Levant (Valencia), horchata is the sweet refreshment of scorching Spanish afternoons. It completes, on the sweet side, the Mediterranean and sunny universe in which Picasso grew up and cherished all his life.
When the afternoon heat crushes you and you can no longer hold a brush, they hand you a tall glass of horchata, ice-cold — white as milk, sweet, perfumed with lemon. It comes from the earth, those little chufas that you grind and press, and it sets you right better than coffee. One sip, and the world becomes bearable again.
Ingredients (period version)
- Tiger nuts (chufas) — one measure (base of the plant milk)
- Water — in proportion (infusion and grinding)
- Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Lemon zest — a strip (flavor)
- Cinnamon — a pinch (warm spice)
Ingredients
- Dried tiger nuts (chufas) — 200 g (base)
- Cold water — 1 liter (grinding and dilution)
- Sugar — 80 to 100 g (sweetness)
- Lemon zest — 1 strip (flavor)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 small (flavor)
Method
- Soak the tiger nuts in cold water for 24 hours to rehydrate.
- Drain, rinse, then finely blend with 1 liter of cold water.
- Let infuse for 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator with the lemon zest and cinnamon.
- Strain carefully through a fine cloth (muslin), pressing to extract all the 'milk'.
- Sweeten to taste, mix well, and refrigerate.
- Serve very cold, optionally with a few ice shards.
How it was made : Horchata de chufa has been documented in the Valencia region since the Middle Ages, inherited from the Arabo-Andalusian cultures that introduced the tiger nut. In the past, the chufas were pounded in a mortar and then pressed by hand in a cloth; it was kept cool in earthenware jars and sold in specialized 'horchaterías', often accompanied by small pastries (fartons).
The contemporary twist : Served 'granizada', semi-frozen like a granita, in a frosty glass — a semi-iced version for today's heat waves.
Sources : Tradition valencienne de l'horchata de chufa ; Denominación de Origen Chufa de Valencia
Pablo Picasso · Charactorium
