Horxateria El Tío Ché

Human Highlighter Suit Tally:  4

My office building sits in a neighborhood consisting largely of big, slick new buildings crowding out old factories and warehouses.  On my ten minute walk from the metro to MetroTIC (the name of the building), there is nothing I find inviting, no store, or restaurant or street that draws me in.  Which leaves me disappointed, because I had hoped for a second base from which to explore the city.  I had pretty much resigned myself to getting in and out as efficiently as possible, and finding other ways to wander and explore.

But today I had lunch with another woman who is spending the year at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC); she does pretty interesting work, and has written several books, including one called Women and Bullfighting: Gender, Sex and the Consumption of Tradition that I plan to check out.  Anyway, Sarah and I had lunch on the block and then decided to take a walk—she and her family live not far from the office.  We walked north a few blocks and suddenly found ourselves in Poblenou, a neighborhood with a completely different vibe—it feels very authentic, very Spanish.  We turned right on the Rambla de Poblenou—a rambla is a wide street with a pedestrian median, and is typically an avenue on which people stroll.  Ramblas are often dotted with outdoor cafes—they are a center of neighborhood life.  The most well-known ramblas in Barcelona are the uber-touristy Las Ramblas and the more elegant Rambla Catalunya.  I don’t think many tourists make it to Rambla del Poblenou, which made it all the better to be there.

We walked for a good 10 or 15 minutes until we found ourselves at the end of the street and the beginning of the beach.  People sunbathed, a few swimming in the Mediterranean, and I silently schemed about how I could change into my bathing suit at the office, slip out and go for an afternoon swim.  Mark my words—it’s in my future.

On the way back, I spotted an Horxateria that looked familiar, and then realized I’d seen it pictured in my Sweet Barcelona book.  Sarah had been there and said the Horxata was really good, so we walked up to the service window and ordered some.  The server ladled the white liquid out of a frosty, refrigerated aluminum tank and into our paper cups.  The stuff is really good—icy cold and refreshing, sweet but not cloying.  And it actually tastes like it might be good for you.  I don’t know if these are old wives’ tales or not, but some say that horxata lowers cholesterol (the bad kind) and triglycerides, fights arteriosclerosis and aids in digestion.

Horxata is popular in many Latin American countries—in Mexico and Central America it is called horchata and is usually made with rice but can also be made with sesame seeds, barley or almonds.  Here in Spain, it is “horxata de chufa,” chufas being tiger nuts.  The tiger nuts probably came here from Egypt or the Sudan, where they are used in all kinds of things.  I’ve seen them in the market here, and they are small, hard and wrinkly—kind of  like walnuts in the shell, only the size of raisins. 

To make horxata, you soak the chufas in water for many hours, and then strain them and grind them in a blender with some fresh water.  Strain again, add sugar, chill and serve.

El Tío Ché has been making and serving horxata since 1912.  (They also make granizados (granitas) which I’ll try next).  It’s the perfect drink for strolling the rambla.

www.eltioche.com