Horchata is a drink with a milky note although it is not made with milk. It is a nut milk! Traditionally, locals use tiger nuts (largely grown in Spain where they’re called “chufa”). As I read up on this beverage, it dawned on me that I had already tasted horchata as prepared by my Mexican co-worker in a restaurant in Chicago.

The drink is Spanish and Mexican in origin. As a “milk” drink, it can be made from almonds or chufa (tiger) nuts, pumpkin seeds and even rice. Culinary historians wrote that horchata is old-world brought to the new world by the Spaniards, even the Aztecs enjoyed a cup of horchata. According to folklore, it originated from a small town in Europe, when a girl offered a cup to the visiting King of Catalunya and Aragon. The King liked it so much that he exclaimed, “Aixo es oro, xata” (This is “oro”…(gold) girl!) Hence, its fame.

And its “gold-ness” spread throughout the country, and became known in Spanish as Orchata, the “H” was appended later. Spain, being a huge colonial power at the time time - it was inevitable that the beverage found its way throughout Latin America. I wonder why horchata remained unknown to Filipinos, considering, we inherited a huge chunk of Iberian culinary culture. (Note from ed: Perhaps the Spaniards saw that our ancestors had their own nut milk from coconut which was just as good!)

As the popularity of the drink expanded throughout the New World, it also got corrupted in preparation. No longer was the drink confined to tiger nuts which is grown in Spain. Other cultures used other nuts like almonds, cashew and for a “broader” drink – seeds and even rice…anything that can imitate its milky character. In the process, Horchata became a style of nut milk or rice milk.