Rachel Laudan

Well now I’m on a roll with horchatas thanks to postings on the subject on the Association for the Study of Food and Society listserv. So it’s time to put up another Mexican horchata, one made with melón (most commonly cantaloupe) seeds.

You save cantaloupe seeds (from the cantaloupe you have used for agua de melón, of course).

You rinse off the fibrous bits, and you put them in the sun to dry. You get a bit more than 1/4 cup per canteloupe I find.

Blend these with a cup or so of water. Strain through cheesecloth. Add about four cups of water and sugar to taste. This needs something to perk it up: a bit of cinnamon or lemon.

Or do as Alfredo does in his interesting blog and add some cantaloupe juice. And check out his pretty horchata de arroz with pink sugar on the rim of the glass.

Well, for Mexico I think that leaves just coconut horchata to go. But perhaps not. There’s always another horchata around the corner.