Ho ho horchata
A drink's journey from North Africa to Mexican taquerias.
As the end of the year approached, I was stumped. Holiday season requires a recipe. I thought, this year it should be simple, which is not my usual style. This time, no ten-ingredient pastor sour, no egg nogs. If you do crave egg nog, try my recipe for coquito from last year found at the end of this article, but get started tonight, because a good egg nog should have time to mature. The holidays are about prepping and pre-batching, so that when the celebration is on, all that is required it to simply open the fridge and serve. That’s why both egg nog and milk punch are perfect if you can put in the prep-time. Here is how I made my Ponche Navideno, a Mexican holiday style milk punch, in my first Substack article ever two years ago. This year, I am late to post since it is already the sixth night of Hanukkah. But, I finally came up with something that is infinitely customizable, which can be made in time for the seventh night, inexpensive and easy, a Mexican staple, but with global reach and origins, which can be vegan, which can be virgin, which can be anything and everything you want it to be. Maybe you’ve already guessed, this drink is ho… ho… horchata.
In a typical Mexican taqueria there are two staple drinks that will always be offered as a refreshment alongside the tacos. These are, of course, agua de jamaica and horchata. As a formality, upon visiting a new taqueria, you might ask what drinks are served, since there may be something extra and exciting, but the answer is usually the same two options. However, the quality of these beverages is variable. Like everything in a taqueria, the devil is in the details. It’s not the type of taco that is surprising or superior, the options are fairly standard. It is the particularities of the meat and every other component, the salsas, the tortilla etc. that make the taco. In terms of the jamaica and horchata, the flavor can be from a pre-mix purchased syrup or can be house made, the drink can be weak or most often, overly sweet, cold or room temperature, but always, once the drink is served, there is an assessment given and a verdict drawn by the customer. It’s part of the game. You might say to your companion, “It’s good, try it?” or “Ew, too sweet.” I am typically a jamaica person, not because I prefer it, but because the tartness of the flower balances the sugar syrup, which makes it a safer bet in sugar-happy Mexico. There is only one neighborhood taqueria in Mexico City that I know of that makes a rich horchata from scratch, and often when we go it is all sold out. I will gate-keep and save the name for an upcoming deep dive article about al pastor tacos (and the al pastor cocktail I mentioned earlier). This taqueria is so underground, I would bet my book collection not one Mexico City readers knows it.
I had a eureka moment last night over my al pastor tacos when I ordered a too-sweet horchata at the Del Valle staple La Flama. It has gotten a little colder in Mexico City, slightly, and even though cinnamon for Mexicans is a hot weather friend, for me from the North, it speaks of wind and snow and the holiday season. I really wanted a good horchata, milky liquid that tastes creamy and frothy, like its fresh out of a cow’s teat, without necessarily containing milk at all. Or like a cup of creamed almonds, but without sending anyone into anaphylactic shock. I decided to make my own version of horchata.
But first, I had to know whether horchata was 100% Mexican or, like jamaica, it had been adopted by Mexican cuisine as part of a legacy of global-historical contact and conquest. The hibiscus flower is endemic to North Africa but was brought by the Spanish from the Philippines, where it was cultivated, to Mexico during the colonial period. Today, hibiscus grows all over the streets of Mexico City.
It was recently brought to my attention that Chinese bakeries are likely in fact a Mexican export of the panaderia format, and the conchita bread has evolved into the Chinese Pineapple Bun (Bolo Bao). Many Chinese desserts share the same basic structure of the Mexican pastries/breads: a soft, yeasted, brioche-like sweet base with a crumbly, cookie-like topping. Culture is fluid, contagious and does not respect borders.
Horchata is no exception. The drink has been made since 2400 BC in Northern Africa (same region as the origins of jamaica!) but with barley or “tiger nut” rather than rice. Tiger nut or chufa is still used in Spain to make horchata but not in Mexico. Tiger “nut” is actually the root of the Cyperus esculentus plant. The original horchata is nutty, earthy and milky, without any actual milk. The modern Mexican horchata can be traced to the Spanish colonial period, during which they began making rice-based horchata to simulate the flavor of the original tiger nut drink in the New World. It caught on.
Horchata is the perfect holiday drink because you can make a large quantity of the base with rice, cinnamon, water, and vanilla. And from there you can customize it, you add sugar syrup (try maple syrup for a Canadian twist), maybe milk, coconut milk, hard booze (rum, brandy, whisky, anything), liqueur, bitters, fruits, coffee. You can shake it with ice, pour it straight over ice, pour it in a glass without ice, blend it with frozen fruit or fresh fruit, or add hot espresso. The base is endlessly customizable and can be served to a crowd of people with different needs: adults, kids, vegans, people with allergies, without making a bunch of different drinks from scratch, without repetition or soda pop.
Below is my recipe. I hope you enjoy and find it as versatile and fun as I do.
Ho Ho Horchata (base)
2 L water
2 cup of white rice
2 sticks of cinnamon (measure 5 inches each)
Soak rice in water with cinnamon for at least 4 hours, option to leave covered in fridge overnight for a 12 hour soak
Blend
Strain with a fine mesh strainer, or squeeze through a cheese cloth
Recommended:
Add vanilla extract to taste
Add 1-2 cup homo milk or coconut milk
Add syrup of choice (I used approx 3 oz maple syrup)
*syrup is easier to measure, moderate, and dissolve than granulated sugar
Options:
Blend in fruits or chop them up and add them (strawberry is best)
For alcoholic version, pour over ice and stir in spirit/liqueur
For caffeinated: add espresso or cold brew
If I was making this for a professional context, I would add orgeat (almond syrup) to the blend, rum and amaretto, and shake with frozen strawberries.
Enjoy with vintage cartoons or spectacle of choice. Time to sign off, and pay attention to my talented, but needy kitchen helper. She just lost a baby tooth.
