Now instead of my normal state of 'simply confused,' I am 'really confused.' Not only did I have to look up the word 'duffer,' I am bewildered about horchata. I live in the southwestern part of the US, and here horchata is a drink made from rice, not this tiger nut tuber! I suppose folks had to get creative when they couldn't find chufas here.
Now to get back to Spain and taste this stuff.
I thought that there was a rice and almonds version of Mexican origin, but wikipedia set me straight, but it turns out that there is a “horchata de almendra” that comes from Spain.
es.wikipedia.org
There are also horchatas made of rice, sometimes with almonds, but these seem to be more in Latin America than Spain.
A bit of culinary history searching revealed that though the horchata de chufa may be accepted as the most authentic, there are records of an almond horchata that predate it. The first known recipe, from 1748, was made of almonds, melon seeds and pine nuts. The first mention of the tiger nut/chufa variety is from 1762 and was presented as a less expensive option.
Es la bebida de verano más popular en la Península Ibérica, pero acá casi no se la conoce. Opinan los que saben.
www.cucinare.tv
Kind of like the debate over whether the authentic tortilla española has onions, or whether the Portugues pastel de nata should be served warm or at room temperature.
Such a fun discussion, buen camino, Laurie
Interesting that the Horchatería Daniel in Valencia only serves the tiger nut version.