Itsy Bitsy Foodies

It was surprising to me that until a year ago I had never had horchata.  Going to college in southern California and all that was involved with getting a degree in French and Spanish provided me with ample opportunities to be exposed to horchata, not to mention my time in Spain and the countless taquerias where I’ve eaten.  In fact, it’s one of those things that I’ve seen so many times that I almost thought I’d had it before.  But I hadn’t.  Fortunately, my good friend, Jonina, shared her horchata recipe with me.  Though I know that it is typically served in the heat of summer as a cool, refreshing beverage, I also think of this cinnamon-spiced rice drink in autumn.  Throughout Spain, Mexico and Latin America there are many variations of this drink but the recipe below seems to be fairly true to a basic horchata (with less sugar!).