Qu'est-ce Que C'est? De-Mystifying Chicago Restaurant Menus: Tamarindo and Horchata

By L. Stolpman in Food on Dec 16, 2008 4:00PM

You're at your favorite Mexican restaurant eating everything on the menu but washing it down with a Coke because...well, because you're not sure about the aguas frescas: Tamarindo and Horchata. Wonder no more.

Tamarindo is made from, well, tamarind. This fruit looks like...well, let's just say it looks like a large, brown bean pod. The outside is a hard but relatively brittle shell that, when cracked away, reveals the tamarind seeds coated with a thick, brown paste of sorts (you'll want to peel away what look like bean pod veins). This thick, tart stickiness is the deliciousness known as the tamarind fruit. It is soaked in water, the seeds removed and blended smooth with sugar to produce the refreshing tamarindo, which resembles a slightly cloudy ice tea. The fruit is popular in Latin America as well as Asia and is easily found in many grocery stores around town, in its pod form or in jarred pulp form. It's often used in savory dishes (perhaps in a dipping sauce), available candied and is used as a flavoring in many sweets. It's delicious.

Horchata is, to our taste, the sweeter drink. This milky drink is typically made from ground almonds, rice, barley or sesame seeds.

We believe the rice horchata is the most popular here in our fair city's Mexican restaurants. The taste is very similar to a sweetened rice milk and it does a great job of putting out any fires you start with a good salsa. You can find either tamarindo or horchata at just about any good Mexican taquerías but we're partial to Taqueria Los Comales' Pilsen location. If you visit...you may see The Decider, Sudo, sipping on a horchata and Stolpman sucking down a tamarindo. Good stuff.

Picture of tamarind courtesy of Jollyboy.
Picture of horchata courtesy of Stu Spivack.