Cultivating and consuming tiger nuts are activities already documented in ancient Egypt. It seems that the pharaohs appreciated its flavor, which is why remains of the tuber have been found in their sarcophagi. From Egypt, the plant spread throughout North Africa.
The Arab invasion brought it to the Iberian Peninsula, where it found, on the shores of the Mediterranean, a more than fertile ground for its success. Since Islam prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages, it is logical that tiger nut milk, the origin of today's Valencian horchata, became popular among its believers.
Right now, Alboraya is the
epicenter of global production of this extraordinary soft drink. Its
characteristic landscape of tiger nut fields provides an inimitable beverage
every year, which must be consumed in the local horchaterías or nearby, since
many of its properties and characteristic flavor are lost during packaging. Of
all the horchata establishments in Alboraya, Vida (Partida de Saboia, 6,
Alboraya, Valencia) is perhaps one of the most unique. Vicen Bertomeu and her
husband, Vicent Alonso, opened it in February 2013. To do so, they renovated an
old farmhouse that has belonged to the Alonso family since 1890. The place is
idyllic, nestled in the middle of the 24 hectares of land where they grow their
own tiger nuts. Of these, they set aside half each year for fallow, allowing the land to rest.
To enter the horchatería itself, you have to walk through a corridor flanked by fruit and ornamental trees: a plum tree, a pomegranate tree, a hackberry tree, two lemon trees, two orange trees, a jujube tree, and a fig tree. Now that the summer heat is setting in, the feeling is of entering a small oasis of greenery and freshness. The horchatería is called Vida, but such a pretty name can be misleading. In fact, it's the nickname the family has come to know in Alboraya.
However, as the properties of tiger nuts become more widely known (some have already placed them among the mythical "superfoods"), this name makes more sense. Tiger nuts have three times more magnesium than a banana, are high in iron, are rich in fiber and calcium, and their unsaturated fatty acids are similar to those of olive oil and avocado.