TIGER NUT MILK: A HEALTHY SOFT DRINK
Traditionally it is considered as a simple soft
drink. However, the tiger nut milk - even more than delicious –
is a healthy drink and rich in nutrients which make it a nutrient
and energetic product recommended by experts for drinking it at
any season of the year, and specially in summer when we are exposed
to a bigger amount of use.
“Rich in calcium, fresh, avoids fatulences,
makes the entrails ber, eases off colics, causes the urine
and the menstruation and it is good for the vertigo and head aches,
it is used in mouth and gum ulcers for mouthwashes”. That
was said for Dr. Pío Font in his book Spanish Flora published
in the half of the XIX century. Nowadays, this drink it is not appreciated
as a medicinal food but experts in nutrition recommend it for its
nutritional values and its refreshing power as opposed to the wear
and tear of the summer.
MORE THAN A SOFT DRINK
Tiger nut milk is not more than a soft drink for
a lot of people but actually it is much more than that. It is a
very rich font of nutrients emphasizing vitamins C and E, and minerals
as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron ore, even more
as starch, no saturated fats, proteins and some enzymes which help
the digestion. In fact, this drink has more iron ore, magnesium
and carbon hydrates than the normal milk. It has also the advantage
that this one doesn’t contain lactose, sugar and proteins
of the milk, nor cholesterol. That’s the reason why experts
consider it a nutritive and energetic product.
One of them, a professor of Microbiology in the
Politécnico de Valencia University, Enrique Hernandez, stands
out the curative and antioxidant properties of which some people
calls “vegetable milk”. This professor remarks that
the vitamin E which is contained for the tiger nut milk diminishes
harmful effects of the “bad cholesterol”
-LDL- produced in our organism, and explains that
its nutritive value it is due to the amount of oleic acid. He says
“it’s pretty bigger than the olive oil’s one”
and also says that it’s a product “recommendable for
diabetics” and “ideal for children, old and sport people”.
HOW IS IT MADE?
The tiger nut milk elaboration starts with the
washing of the tiger nut, a tuber with Egyptian origin very singular
for its weather and land needs, conditions which, in Spain only
exist in the Valencia region L’Horta Nord.
Once they are washed, they have to be soaking
8 hours and then, they are grinded. During the process it is added
water in a proportion of 3 litre of water for each kilo of tiger
nut and the mixture is leaved to macerate. When the proper time
has gone it is pressed and sifted and then added the amount of sugar,
cinnamon, and lemon peel wished, after that it is seeped again.
Once this is done, it’s just need to put the mixture to cool
down. In this way is obtained a liquid or iced tiger nut milk, it
depends of the grade of cold it has been undergone. And now it’s
ready to be poured out.
TASTE OF TIGER NUT MILK
Each time it’s easier to find tiger nut milk
at any season of the year although is specially in summer when the
supermarket’s stands are full of different kinds of packages
that are manufactured, recognized and certified by the Regulator
Council of the Origin Denomination of valencian tiger nut.
That Council says that we can find in the supermarket:
-Natural tiger nut milk: is the one prepared with
the right amount of tiger nut, water and sugar for the product to
have a minimum of 12% soluble solids, 2’2% of starch, 2’5
of fats, 6’3 de pH and less of the 10% of sugar in form of
sucrose.
- Pasteurized natural tiger nut milk: is the one
submitted to a treatment of pasteurization below 72ºC, without
adding additives or technologic fertilizers. It’s composition
is the same as the first one.
- Sterilized tiger nut milk: is the one obtained
after submitted the tiger nut milk to a technological process which
transforms or eliminates totally or partially its contents of starch,
and processed after its packaging with a thermal treatment which
ensure the destruction of microorganisms and inactivity of its forms
of resistance.
- UHT tiger nut milk: is the one submitted to
a process for eliminating the starch and processed by a thermal
treatment UHT which ensure, after its aseptic packaging, the destruction
of microorganisms and its forms of resistance.
- Concentrate tiger nut milk: is the one with
the appropriate proportions of tiger nut, water and sugar to obtain
a product with a minimum concentration of dissolver solids of 42%
and a 6 pH, which by dissolution with water permits obtain a product
with the same characteristics of the natural tiger nut.
- Condensed tiger nut milk: it could be pasteurized
(minimum 60% of dissolver solids, 4’2 of starch and 5’4
of fats) or frozen (minimum 50% of dissolver solids, 5’4 of
starch and 7’2 of fats).
- Powdered tiger nut milk: is the one submitted
to a technological process which can eliminate or transform –
totally or partially – its contents of starch in form of particles
or solid granulates, and obtained through drying process which a
content of water less than 5%.
o, look carefully to the label and ensure yourself
of buying the suitable product for you. If you choose the natural
one, remember that you can just drink it within 2 or 3 days after
opening the package and always keep it in the fridge.
A digestive drink
The tiger nut milk is a healthy and nutrient drink,
recommendable for children and adults. If sugar is not added it’s
recommended its use for those who have a delicate stomach, heavy
digestions, flatulence or diarrhoea. But, obviously, if sugar is
added it’s not recommended for those who suffer diabetes or
any other ailment in which sugar has to be controlled.
It isn’t just made of tiger nut
Even though in our country the most popular it
is the one made of tiger nut, there are other made of almonds, coco
nut or rice. The one made of almond or rice it is made in the same
way as the one made of tiger nut. In the case of the coco nut, it
is boiled and water, milk and sugar are added. Each of them provides
the nutrients of each fruit.
A curious story
Once upon a time the king Jaume I of Cataluña
and Aragón arrived to Valencia and a little girl offered
him a fresh, white and sweet drink. Pleased for its taste the king
asked for the name of the drink and the girl answered that it was
tiger nut milk. But Jaume I corrected her saying “Axo no es
llet. Axo es or, xata” (This isn’t milk. This is gold,
girl). It is said in Valencia that the name of the drink (orxata
in Spanish) comes from that time.
Sara Muñoz
Discovery Health Magazine, nº52
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