Spanish · Valencia · drink

Orxata de Xufa amb Fartons

Orxata de Xufa amb Fartons reads sweetness 7.2, citrus 6.5 and sourness 5.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Spanish · Valencia drink, about 27 hr 21 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.2 · Citrus 6.5 · Sourness 5.8 · Fruity 5.1 · Salinity 3.5 · Nutty 2.3 · Floral 1.4 · Richness 1.2

What's in it (8)

Time & effort: about 27 hr 21 min (21 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 22.4 kcal, 0 g protein, 0 g fat, 5.8 g carbs

Dietary: Vegan — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (6 steps)

  1. Orxata is made from chufas — tiger nuts, the small wrinkled tubers of a sedge grown in the huerta north of Valencia, around Alboraya. They are not nuts and there is no dairy in this, despite the colour. The protected chufa de València is the one to buy; other tiger nuts are woodier and give a thinner drink.
  2. Rinse the tiger nuts well, then cover them generously with cold water and soak 24 hours at room temperature, changing the water once. They will swell and soften from pebble-hard to the resistance of a raw chestnut.
  3. Drain, rinse again, and blend with 1 litre of the fresh cold water in batches for about 4 minutes total, until you have a coarse white slurry. A high-powered blender does this in two minutes; a normal one needs longer and more patience.
  4. Strain through a fine cloth or a jelly bag set over a bowl, gathering the corners and wringing hard — this takes about 15 minutes and you must squeeze until the pulp is genuinely dry, because most of the flavour is in the last third of the liquid. Repeat with the remaining litre of water through the same pulp.
  5. Drop the cinnamon stick and the lemon zest into the liquid, cover and refrigerate 1 hour to infuse, then fish them out. Longer than that and the cinnamon takes over.
  6. Stir in the sugar and salt until dissolved, and chill at least 2 hours. Strain once more through a fine sieve just before serving; real orxata separates in the glass and needs a stir. Serve very cold over ice, with fartons — the long soft glazed buns made for dipping into it. Drink it the same day, as it has no preservatives and turns within about 48 hours.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.