| Welcome
to the lighter side of history. This week we will ponder the nature of summer
refreshment in Spain and, in the process, hopefully learn something about the
colonisation of the Western Mediterranean. Point of Departure:
Any 'Heladería' Now that the warm weather is
here, most of us, if we are honest, have been lured into an 'heladeria', enticed
by the colourful array of creamy concoctions. There is no need to feel sheepish
about admitting to this. Ice cream is a global affair, as inescapable as the 7
o'clock news. It is available in the seven continents, and, after bread, probably
constitutes the most widespread manufactured food on earth. But
what many newcomers to Spain may not know is that Spanish ice cream parlours offer
an additional sweet treat that is completely unique in Europe and dates back to
the low Middle Ages, if not before. It is a drink called 'horchata'. The origin
of this ancient beverage is somewhat of a mystery and still has not been traced
with any high degree of accuracy - probably because the chroniclers of yore were
too busy following the intrigues of state to notice what people put in their mouths. What
Is It? Before we get started on the historical process,
allow me a quick parenthesis to explain a bit about the drink and how it is made.
Horchata is the milk of the 'chufa' or tiger nut - a.k.a. earth almond, earthnut,
groundnut, rush nut or Zulu nut. It is actually not a nut at all but the small
underground bulb or tuber of the chufa plant. The drink is made by soaking dried
chufas in water and then pounding them to a pulp to release their milky white
juice. (In the Modern Age, we forego the pounding and let our food processors
do the work.) The mixture is then strained to eliminate the fibrous remains of
the tuber, sweetened and chilled. I will now attempt, in
my own meandering way, to map out the path the tiger nut travelled in order to
arrive in Spain, apparently its only European stronghold. Egyptian
Roots The earliest evidence of the tiger nut dates
back to ancient Egypt where trace remains of the tuber have been positively identified
in burial tombs that were sealed as long ago as 3000 BC. These findings indicate
that this foodstuff was held in enough esteem to be included among the grave goods
of the noble classes. In ancient Egyptian belief, the primary purpose of organic
funerary offerings was to sustain the departing soul through its long journey
across the River Styx and into the afterlife. Seen in this light, chufa's presence
in burial tombs is a testament to the high nutritional value which we are just
beginning to realize is one of horchata's chief bonuses - along with its great
taste, of course! Greek References A
few millennia later, the Greek philosopher and natural scientist Theophratus (c.
372 - c. 287 BC) referred briefly to the tiger nut in his writings as a crop peculiar
to Egypt, the root of which was prepared by boiling at length in barley water. From
this report one could assume that the tiger nut never made its way across the
Mediterranean to Europe during antiquity but stayed on the southern side of the
sea until a later date . . . unless, in the course of trade, the Phoenicians -
merchant neighbours of the Egyptians and early colonizers of Spain - should have
chanced to take some of the dried chufas to their outposts in Malaga and Cadiz.
This happenstance would place the introduction of the tiger nut in Spain between
the 8th and 6th century BC. As remote as this possibility
may sound (mostly because the Phoenician forte was commerce not agriculture),
it intrigues me. More so, if we take into account that the Phoenicians were eventually
supplanted in southern Spain by their brothers in race, the Carthaginians. Inspection
of a map reveals that the capital of Punic Spain, Cartago Novo (or New Carthage)
is just south of the only place in present-day Spain where chufa is commercially
grown - Valencia. Debate Goes On In
her book, 'The Wines and Food of Spain', Penelope Casas maintains that 'horchata
de chufa' is undeniably of Arabic origin. Presumably, this means that it was introduced
by the Moors during their occupation of Spain from the 8th to the 13th centuries. However,
if we really want to get picky, the term "Arabic origin" could be construed
to mean two things. A very technical interpretation could imply that the nut may
have spread Northeast from its ancestral home in Egypt to Damascus - ancient capital
of the Islamic world and home of the fertile crescent - where growing conditions
would have approximated those in the moist and fecund Nile delta. On the other
hand, "Arabic origin" could mean that over the centuries the chufa plant
spread westward from Egypt, travelled along the African littoral, and eventually
took root in Morocco and Algeria from whence the brunt of Spain's Islamic occupation
was launched. As unlikely as the first scenario sounds,
Damascus was in fact connected, if only briefly, to medieval Spain. The first
45 years of Moslem rule in Iberia is known as the Emirate of Damascus (711 - 756),
a political situation which would have opened trade channels between the two countries,
and perhaps led to the implantation of the tiger nut via the Middle East rather
than North Africa. Leaving improbable musings behind, the
second scenario far outweighs the first for several reasons. To begin with, after
the Iberian Moors cut ties with Damascus, they carried on ruling the peninsula
from strictly local bases. As expert farmers, they were responsible for introducing
rice to Spain, and consequently the rest of Europe as well. Rice and tiger nuts
require similar growing conditions, a coincidence which argues for the simultaneous
introductions of both crops. Not surprisingly, Valencia is also the rice capital
of Spain. Moreover, rice was used interchangeably with chufa during centuries
to make horchata. Ironically, in recent years, the popularity
of rice horchata in Spain has dwindled in favour of the chufa variety, while,
in health food shops across Europe and America, rice milk (i.e. horchata) is the
latest craze. What's in a Name? Often
the etymology of a word will help dispel mystery regarding its origin. In this
case it does not. But, now that the subject has been brought up, I might as well
add a few findings. According to Raymond Sokolov in his article "Barley's
Ghost" (Natural History magazine), the word 'horchata' derives from the Latin
'hordeum', meaning 'barley'. He states that, "In Spain the most venerable
of grain drinks, barely tea of barley water, survives only as the name of a popular
beverage called 'horchata'." Here I must interject
that I do remember a time when barely water (agua de cebada) was still available
from street vendors in Madrid. Usually, it was mixed with delicious slushy lemonade
in order to sweeten it, in the manner of a shandy. But that was long ago in 1980
when I first came to Spain. Getting back to Sokolov's interesting
research, we may deduce that a drink made from barley, common to the Roman world
and its satellites, was eventually modified in Spain by substituting locally grown
rice and chufa. Still, the definitive version of how the tiger nut arrived in
Spain, and why it did not take root in any other European country, remains a matter
of speculation. Closing Although
we have not succeeded in unravelling horchata's distant origins, it is nonetheless
possible to enjoy this intriguing drink in the here and now. Leave ice cream for
the unenlightened and dare to try a truly ethnic concoction that might have been
the potion of Pharaohs! You may even want to make it at home following this simple
recipe: Ingredients: I cup dry rice or tiger nuts, if available;
water; sweetener of choice Method: Soak the rice or chufas
in one quart of cold water for 24 hours. Change the water, then mix both liquid
and solids in a blender until the water becomes white and frothy. Strain, sweeten
to taste, and chill. Bottoms up! See you next week when
we will get started on the Sant Joan celebrations.
Emily
Kaufman
emilykaufman@ibizahistoryculture.com
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