Horchata or orxata is the name for several kinds of vegetable beverages, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley or tigernuts (chufas).
The name comes from Valencian orxata, probably from ordiata, made from ordi (barley) (Latin *hordeata < hordeum). The French and English ‘orgeat’, the Italian ‘orzata’, and the Surinamese Dutch orgeade have the same origin, though the beverages themselves have diverged, and none of them are typically made from barley any more. One legend links the origins of the name to King Jaume I, who after being given the drink for the first time by a local in Alboraya, was, said to have exclaimed “Això és or, xata!” (“That’s gold, darling!”)
