"DC." > wrote in message
...
> Hi Peter,
>
> I believe the Horchata in Mehico & that part of the world were introduced
> by
> the Spaniards. In Southern Spain & the agricultural region of Valencia is
> where you'll find tiger nuts or chufas. It's a traditional drink but not
> many people drink it these days, you'll see it in fairgrounds or at the
> kids
> stands at fiestas next to the Helados/Ice cream etc. but generally people
> &
> kids buy all the new healthy diet stuff like yogurt etc. I even had a
> Spanish woman asking me about soya milk etc. saying how great & healthy it
> is etc. I said what about Horchata... she said it's some kind of old drink
> that they use to drink in the old days when they couldn't get milk etc.
> Then
> i told her how similar the 2 were & that maybe she should look into it. I
> also hear that the Mexicans use rice, almonds & other stuff to substitute
> for tigernuts in their Horchata & i've always wondered why no one grows
> tigernuts there or in the states for horchata?


Hmm. According to this web page, tiger nuts or chufa are actually starchy
tubers and are indeed to be found in Latin America. But I've never heard of
chufa in Mexico, and I'm pretty sure their horchata isn't made with it.
Interesting.

http://www.foodsubs.com/Nuts.html


>> As for the thick hot chocolate. I've never been to Spain, so I don't
>> know
>> how it is done there. But in the Bikol province of the Philippines, for
>> breakfast and as snacks, we dip binutong (glutinous rice seasoned with
>> coconut milk and steamed in a banana leaf wrapper) into thick hot
> chocolate.
>> The chocolate is prepared with freshly-roasted cacao beans that are
>> ground
>> and mixed up with water and sugar (or at least that is how it used to be
>> made).
> <snip>
>
> Peter, maybe a trip to the 'old country' Spain is needed. I've never
> thought
> of Spain as a old colonial power


Hehe. Well, that's actually why I'm not so interested in visiting Spain--I
hold a poor opinion of that country due to their former evil empire, even
though my father says I shouldn't think that way... And Spain had a
dictator until only a few decades ago. So, actually, Spain is one of the
last countries in Europe I'd like to visit. Yeah, it's stupid, I know. But
Iceland has Björk! Way more interesting!


but as a popular tourist destinations for
> many in Europe but my recent trips there, i've been seeing links to many
> places & countries far & wide. One of my trips to Seville, we spent a
> leisurely sunday morning drinking coffee opposite the cathedral & did a
> bit
> of people watching as families came out of church/sunday service. I saw an
> elderly man wearing a natural white linen short sleeve shirt, very similar
> if not the same as the ones you would wear in the Philipines when you turn
> up for sunday mass or at any official gathering, what are they called?


We call them "barong tagalog." I love them, though I don't personally own
one, unfortunately. Over here in the Americas, that style of shirt is
called a "guayabera," and both Mexicans and Cubans argue over origin-rights.
I think it originated in Mexico, and I'm certainly biased there, but since
the galleons travelled from Acapulco to Manila, isn't Mexico the more
logical choice for its origins? In the Philippines, however, I believe
those shirts are made with pineapple linen, thus giving them that
see-through characteristic.


[...]
>> I think it is because we are not dealing
>> with cacao powder, but with freshly ground beans that include the beans'
>> natural oils and fats.
>
> Hahaaaa... i have an intersting story to tell you, my bro' has one of them
> Italian coffee machines that has the bean hopper, grinder & water all in,
> you just need to press the button & prime the steaming arm etc. Well in
> parts of SE Asia like Malaysia through to Indonesia, local coffee beans
> are
> roasted with butter to achieve a realy tasty flavour but this leaves the
> beans covered in oily butter residue. He decided to use local beans
> instead
> of the imported Italian ones etc. & the machine clogged up because of the
> oils! You see, local coffee is boiled in a pot & a old muslin sock is used
> to strain it. No machines & it's all done by hand. The result is a really
> fragrant brew with a slighty oily film on the surface from the butter. I
> was
> told one Italian expat living there threw out her Italian coffee & drank
> local coffee everyday! Heeheee. It's highly addictive.


Wow! I din't know that. I know about the muslin sock, because I have
several, but not about the butter roasting. Can only imagine how that
tastes.

Peter