[Sca-cooks] Horchata - Barley Water

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On May 22, 2007, at 6:06 PM, Suey wrote:

> Adamantius wrote:
>
>> What I'm wondering is whether the earthnut referred to above is  
>> the odern groundnut, or what Americans call peanuts...
>>
> I have no idea what you mean by the word odern.

It was a typographical error. "Modern".

> My reply on 19 May 2007
> to whether hochata is made with the groundnut or peanuts was:
>> No the scientific name for groundnut is Apios americana indicting  
>> that that is one of your products not one from the Mediterranean,  
>> peanut is Arachis hypogaea,  I am talking about what the Spanish  
>> call chufa, scientific name Cyperus esculentus translated into  
>> English as earthnut, earth almond or chufa.
> or chufa nut.
>
> Lilianah by the way on 20 May 2007 wrote:
>
> "Articles Archive.net says:
> [http://food.articlesarchive.net/earthnuts-or-pignuts-conopodium- 
> majus.html]
>
> Earthnuts or Pignuts (Conopodium Majus)An edible tuber common in  
> British woodlands."
>
> At that point used only the word chufa in my replies to avoid  
> confusion
> about apparently the same name has been give to plants of different
> species and to distinguish the fact that chufas are not American or
> British.
> In my message of 20 May 2007 I further explained:
>
> "The chufa is grown in temperate countries where there are no  
> frosts when planted in sandy silt soil. I have never heard of  
> chufas in England. It seems here that the earthnut is a name used  
> for two different plants. Font Quer, Pio. Plantas medicinales, El  
> Dioscorides renovado. Barcelona: Ediciones Peninsula.  
> 1999:657:922-925 and Usher, George. A Dictionary of plants used by  
> man. London: Constable and Company Ltd. 1974:195 as many websites  
> state the scientific name for chufa is Cyperus esculentus."
>
> The rule of thumb here is that if the scientific name is not  
> Cyperus esculentus we are not talking about the chufa that is used  
> to make horchata in Spain today. Is this clear or do you still have  
> a query?
> Suey

Occasionally we've had occasion here to mention an alternate usage  
for "galingale", we dance around a bit, Stefan asks if this is Alpina  
Officinalis, we say no, it's just a plant known in some folk herbal  
traditions as galingale, it's related to sedge, etc., etc.

It appears that what you're calling "chufa" is known in England,  
France, and elsewhere, under an assortment of names, but "earthnut"  
has never been one of the ones I've heard used. I believe I, and  
perhaps some others, thought it sounded sufficiently similar to  
"groundnut", which is another name for what we call peanuts, to ask  
for a little clarification. BTW, as I recall, there's a lovely photo  
of a plate of cooked "galingale" (which in this case is probably  
Cyperus esculentis and not Alpina officinalis) in any of several  
editions of the Larousse Gastronomique.

Adamantius