Hi Peter,


> 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


I was told tigernuts were native to Spain... but then who knows with all
these coming & going of stuff & produce, it could even come from your own
backyard with you knowing. LOL.

> 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!

Icelands sounds cool, i mean COLD! why the heck do you think it's called
Iceland.. LOL. but i'm sure it's a really nice place to visit in the summer
but it must be pretty bleak in the winter. Ohh... it ain't cheap either,
apparently it's as expensive as Tokyo or even more! Post Franco Spain is
shaping up to be quite a nice place to live hence lots of Brits, Germans &
other Europeans move there & live there. So the future of Spain looks to be
pretty interesting with 1/2 of Europe descending on it every year. But
they've got to watch out for over development.

> 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.

That's it... i remember they were made from some veg. fibre or something. It
ain't all white either is it, kind of a off white in colour if i remember
correctly.

> 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.

I have a kilo of the top grade (fragrant) beans & powder but i can't see it
lasting forever, we try & reserve it for sunday mornings only & if we try
real hard, once a month. It's a treat & our neighbours know it. When we
bought ours, there were 6 bags of beans to choose from. All roasted with
butter. The cheapest gave a bitter taste, not much aroma but mainly taste.
The most expensive which was what we bought is mainly fragrant. That's what
the guy said & the locals would make a mix of 2 o 3 grades etc. He suggested
the top grade(fragrant) & one of the middle grade for taste. So we bought 2
half kilos but we ended up drinking the top grade /fragrant beans as western
tastes goes, they were out of the world!. The other stuff was indeed bitter!
We've since had another kilo of the fragrant stuff sent over to us. It costs
just over £3 for a kilo of the fragrant/top grade beans. That's about US$5+
for a kilo, is that a good price? i was told the beans were sumatran from
Indonesia. BTW... the locals there drink their coffee & tea with sweet milk
like tinned condense milk, they have to i guess as some of the cheaper
coffee tasted so bitter!

I can remember as a kid smelling the roasting of coffee beans from the back
alleyways of coffee shops... they would have one of those big oil drums cut
in half & filled 1/2 way with coffee beans & fry them with butter. I
remember them stirring it with a huge wok scoop or a mini spade etc. & later
covering the lot up & occasionally stirring the lot up again. Do they do the
same in the Philipines?

DC.