# Horchata, a treat made with rice **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [August 28, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208 "2023-08-28T02:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/1 "2023-08-28T02:05:21Z")
Have you ever had it? Was it a childhood treat made by Mama or perhaps Abuela or Abuelo? Was it something you purchased? What did you think of it if it was not a childhood treat? I made some this evening, using the simplest recipe I could find, and it is the first time I’ve ever tasted it. Not bad at all, but I think this recipe was a little heavy on the cinnamon, easily corrected in the next batch. While it is a sweet drink, I could very easily see this being made with a bit of pepper of some sort, a hint of heat. ---
**Author:** ![dummygladhands71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c0e974/32.png) [@dummygladhands71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dummygladhands71)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/2 "2023-08-28T02:25:41Z")
Horchata ice cream is good ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/3 "2023-08-28T02:55:13Z")
My son used to get it at Mexican restaurants all the time. A little too sweet for me. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/4 "2023-08-28T02:56:57Z")
I frequently get it at Mexican restaurants and quite like it. The grocery-store version is OK, but not as good as what I can get in a taqueria. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/5 "2023-08-28T03:44:27Z")
Yes, I’ve had it many times; sweetness varied. I like it. I think if you don’t mind making it at home, you’ll find there are a wide variety of options. ---
**Author:** ![Guapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@Guapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guapo)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/6 "2023-08-28T05:19:47Z")
In Spain it’s made with chufa nuts. I prefer the Mexican version, ice cold, on a hot day. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/7 "2023-08-28T22:29:24Z")
I’d only had the rice version until I moved to DC, which has a large Salvadoran population, where I found horchata mix made from “morro” seeds in the grocery store. Which I liked. I’d like to try the chufa version. > **[Crescentia alata](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescentia_alata)** > > Crescentia alata, variously called Mexican calabash, jícaro, morro, morrito, or winged calabash, is a plant species in the family Bignoniaceae and in the genus Crescentia, native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica. > It is a small tree growing to 8 m tall. It has hard, cannonball-like fruit 7–10 cm diameter, that are difficult to break into. It is believed that these fruit characteristics evolved as a defense mechanism against seed predation by long-dead megafauna of the ... ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2023, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/8 "2023-08-30T22:32:07Z")
Yeah, I’ve always been interested in trying the chufa/tiger nuts version. Where I live in Chicago, horchata is pretty much everywhere. It’s good stuff, though a little too sweet to indulge too frequently. Not sure when I first tried it … probably in the 90s. I’m more likely to drink agua de jamaica (hibiscus), though that is fairly sweet too, but the tartness of the hibiscus nicely offsets it. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/9 "2023-08-31T05:46:44Z")
Cattails are related and also have edible corms/tubers (I think those words aren’t synonymous). Interesting information on harvesting chufa nuts: > **[Chufa Nuts: Nature's Restaurant: A Complete Wild Food Guide - Fields, Forests...](http://natures-restaurant-online.com/ChufaNuts.html)** > > Chufa Nuts. How to find, identify, harvest & use for food. Full description, range maps, pictures & useful links. ---
**Author:** ![Guapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@Guapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guapo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2023, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horchata-a-treat-made-with-rice/989208/10 "2023-08-31T11:02:11Z")
I have a vivid memory of my first taste of horchata. I was in a tiny, family-run restaurant in Palenque and it was really hot and humid. The ice cold horchata was just what I needed. I gulped it down and got a second one to drink with my meal to soothe my mouth from the spicy food