The sweet taste of Horchata – in Valencia

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.

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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.

Afterwards we walked a little further along the street beside Santa Catalina to look at Plaza Redonda, a small circular market place. It had an old-fashioned and slightly run down feel. If you are into design and handicrafts there were some great stalls selling traditional lace and braids – this is the place to come and trim up your Fallas costume. There was a nice ceramics shop and caged birds tweeting in a pet shop and also some souvenir shops where the children bought some plastic fans to give to their friends. I’d say it’s worth a quick look-in if you’re in the area.

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This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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