Jack Tyler wrote:

> I fear a diversion from discussing a traditional drink enjoyed
> throughout Mexico due to the fact that it is not "Mexican". Many
> things brought to Mexico by the Spanish, also, may be called "not
> Mexican", but they ARE Mexican now.

Mea culpa. I should have said that horchata is not of Mexican *origin*.

Mexicans must certainly enjoy drinking their version of horchata, as
every Mexican juice bar has a few gallons of it mixed up and ready to
dispense.

I tried it once, but I knew what it was going to taste like from having
eaten white rice with milk, sugar and cinnamon when I was a child.

It seems that the cook in the elementary school cafeteria would prepare
Spanish rice for school lunches. But she knew that a few of the picky
eaters wouldn't touch anything with tomatos in it, so she made white
rice for those kids.

I was one of those kids. So horchata seems thin and unsatisfying by
comparison.

I wonder if Mexicans ever make horchata flavored ice cream?