Tiger nut

Souchet

What it is

It is the tuber of a sedge, not a nut at all, and dried ones have been found in Egyptian tombs — one of the oldest foods still eaten in the same form. In Valencia the crop carries a protected designation and exists for one purpose, horchata de chufa; across the Americas the same plant is called yellow nutsedge and farmers spend real money killing it.

In the kitchen

Soak the dried tubers a full day before milling or the horchata comes out thin — roughly one part soaked chufa to four of water, blended, then strained twice through cloth. Serve it barely above freezing and never boil it: heat sets the starch and you get paste.

Goes with

Cinnamon Lemon White sugar Vanilla Date Coconut Honey

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us