We'd seen the stalls selling Horchata (or Orxata as it's written) at the Cuidad de las Artes y las Ciencies and around town too, so at the point in the afternoon when we needed a break from sightseeing, we decided to try out this local Valencian drink. It's sweet, milky and made from tiger nuts and has a powdery texture a little like soya milk.As we were in Plaza de la Reina, two of the more traditional Horchaterias were close at hand, placed opposite one another in front of the church of Santa Catalina - they are Horchateria el Siglio and Horchateria de Santa Catalina. Of the two, Horchateria de Santa Catalina looked the more appealing, with its traditional painted tiles around the entrance.
We dived in and ordered our Horchata accompanied by the traditional fartons or finger shaped pastries which came either plain, chocolate or custard filling. The drink was intensely sweet to the point of being sickly - we could understand why it hadn't become a world hit to rival coca cola. The Horchateria was beautiful on the inside but I'm afraid I couldn't recommend it for the service as we couldn't raise a smile from any of the staff.
Read more of this article on my new travel blog at Heatheronhertravels.com
Back to Travel Blog Home
3 comments:
Hi Heather!
The rate at which you are blogging is astonishing! (Your kids are right :-) I am delighted that you and your family are having such terrific adventures in Valencia.
I actually got to see Paco de Lucia live... not here in Spain but in Cali, Colombia in 1993. I was so young I had no idea who he was.
I wanted to recommend "Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past" by Giles Tremlett if you have not already read it. The book really helped me develop a better understanding of Franco and modern Spain when I first moved to BCN.
Happy travels... blog on!
tiger nuts?! Sounds very exotic and delish!
Mmm, I love horchata! And that looks like a such an adorable horchata shop. -X
Post a Comment