When visiting Spain, tourists usually drink sangría, but Spain offers many other drinks. You can ask for a clara (beer with lemon or soda), a café con hielo (a cup of coffee and a glass with ice cubes) or a granizado (ice with lemon, strawberry, coffee or many other different flavours). Today, someone offered me a granizado de Baileys for the first time and it sounded promising, but I have ordered my favourite summer drink: horchata.
What is it? Horchata de chufa is a refreshing drink from Valencia, Spain. It is made of tigernuts and is served cold during the summer throughout Spain. There is a Regulatory Council that ensures the quality and origin of the chufas with protected designation of origin. If you like almonds, hazelnuts and milk, you’ll probably like it, but it has a very peculiar taste, either you love it or hate it. Horchata can even replace milk for people who are lactose intolerant and its nutritional properties are excellent.
[Horchata de chufa. Photo by Marta García]
If you are in the North of Spain, you can ask for a sidra. Your skilled Asturian waiter will serve it using a very peculiar technique called escanciado, which means he will hold the bottle above his head and pour a little bit of cider so it will be aerated before it reaches your glass. He will come to your table every few minutes to refill your glass. This technique is so tricky that many sidra lovers buy a special machine that does the escanciado for them.
[Escanciado technique. Photo by Marta García]
In case you prefer wine to cider, I strongly recommend visiting a Spanish winery. In the Penedès area, not far away from Barcelona, you can find Codorníu, with its impressive architecture by Puig i Cadafalch. For a few euros, you will learn about the process to make wine, you take a trip inside the winery in a wee train and, of course, you drink some cava (Catalan champagne)!
Another of my favourite wineries in the Penedès area is Jean León’s. Its owner was born in Santander and his real name was Ceferino Carrión. He lived in the US for many years, he was friends with James Dean, and opened a restaurant where Hollywood stars would go to eat undisturbed. He was rich and famous, but he wanted something else: his own wines. That is why he came back to Spain and founded this winery. In 1993, the International magazine Wine considered Jean Leon Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva 83 one of the best eight wines in the world.
When visiting Spain, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy its beverages. Eat, drink and be merry!
When visiting Spain, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy its beverages. Eat, drink and be merry!
Hi, Marta. This is my first time in your blog. Your post on what to drink in Spain beyond "sangría" is very good. I was fascinated by the translation of "chufas" ha ha ha: "Tiger nuts", ha ha ha. One would think of something not really to eat.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I would add "fino" Sherry to your list. Well, and any other kind of Sherry: Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, etc. "Amontillado" for instance; there is a Poe's story about a barrel of Amontillado, which means that it was already good known in the XIX Century.
Regards
I love this post! I tried almost everything available in the Barcelona region during my stay there, except horchata. I knew it had a very specific taste, so I wanted to try it the first time in a reputable cafe where it would be good, and not some random bar. But I kept forgetting! I've had it here in Mexico though!
ReplyDeleteI love your other suggestions, particularly the cider, and I'm glad you didn't mention that horrible coca-cola/red wine mix that they make. My personal favourites while I was there were a cafe amb llet in the mornings or afternoons, or a clara in the evening!
(Oh, and re: your comment, I don't make jewellery much anymore, but I still have boxes full of materials at my parents house)!
@Sorokin ¡Hola! Thank you for your comment. You're right, the name 'tiger nuts' is weird. Thanks for your tip, I've never heard of this story by Poe. You live in Brussels! I'll visit your blog often to remember my stay there. Au revoir !
ReplyDelete@Emily. ¡Gracias! I think in Mexico the horchata is made with rice instead of tiger nuts. Coca cola and red wine is calimocho, I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy, ha, ha
This is great, Marta. There are some good, useable facts about what to try the next time I go to Spain. Yes, Mexican horchata is made with rice and it's the only one I've had. I'd love to try the Spanish one too. What I remember from Spain is that I went to a cafe and they served freshly fried potato crisps/ chips on the table with your drink. I loved that! I didn't know if it was usual or just that cafe, but it was delicious and I've remembered it all these years.
ReplyDeleteHi Marta. Thanks for visiting my blog. The "Cask of Amontillado" (not the BARREL of Amontillado as I wrote in my former comment) is a tale written by Edgar Allan Poe by mid XIX Century. You can find more details in the Wiki:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cask_of_Amontillado
I read this story several years ago, -in a spanish translation- in a book of the "collected short stories" type. In these days, I have a book with the original texts in English in my bookshelf, but -Oh God- I never had time to go into it.
Regards
I love horchata, although it's a little bit sweet for my taste. Recently I mentioned calimocho to my in-laws and they said it is drunk in Sicily too. I've never dared to try it...
ReplyDeleteNice post and useful recommendations!
hola preciosa,
ReplyDeletete has adelantado porque pensaba ponértelo en un comentario de tu blog para avisarte, jajajaja
By the way, I love sangría!
kss
;-)
In NIce, the mix ice-syrup is called with a funny local name: gratakeka (phonetically written!)
ReplyDeleteDon' you remember in Mary Poppins, at the beginning of the movie, she opens a normal bag, and takes plenty of unusual, strange, big things from it? That's why I was thinking of her when I took my pictures: plenty of things getting out of an unusual place for them!
more and more reasons for me to visit Spain, Marta! Thanks for the recommendations :)
ReplyDeleteThis made for an excellent read Marta. I liked the way you shared your personal favorites. Looking forward to experiencing granizado and horchata when we will visit Spain!
ReplyDeleteHorchata de chufa - you either love it or hate it. Sounds like Australian Vegemite. I've never been to Spain (yet) but the drinks look fabulous!
ReplyDelete@Marie, yes, some bars offer one tapa for free every time you order a beer (mostly in the South of Spain, Barcelona is a bit expensive)
ReplyDelete@Sorokin, thanks for the title, say hi to Manneken and Jeanekken :)
@Pilar, qué risa con tus vídeos, me encantaron
@Malyss, I'll try gratakeka next time I'll go to Nice (that name sounds more Greek than French or Italian)
@Lucy, lucky you, Sicily!
@Rebeca, don't forget to visit Barcelona, I'll show you around!
@Orangesplaash Thank you!
@Sabina, yes, it's just like Vegemite :)
ah, que próximamente subiré otro de Plitvice.
ReplyDeletesee you
;-)
Great post, but don´t forget to include some Rioja wine when you next dine out!!
ReplyDeleteI am an horchata monster these days - we have been in Tarragona during the holidays and I was addicted to them!! btw, I never knew the "chufa" name in English, so it has come as a surprise :)
Cheers, Rocío