Tiger Nut, "chufa" Rhizomes (Cyperus esculentus)
Quantity: 20 Rhizomes
Gemination approx. 20 Days at 20ºC, let 24 hours in Water to room temperature.
Syn: Chufa, Tiger nut, Amandes de terre, atadwe, Hab el Aziz
The tiger nut can be eaten raw or cooked. In Spain, a milk-like drink called "Horchata" is made from the ground almond and is particularly popular here in the summer time. The taste is reminiscent of almonds and/or nuts.
Cultivation in the Valencia area is originally from year 1300. Yes, hundreds of years back! Even today, the center of the production of Chufa and Horchata is still in the area of Valencia.
Presumably, the Chufa tubers are among the foods that have already been used for 16,000 b.c. Roots of wild chufa have been found at Wadi Kubbaniya, north of Aswan, dating to around 16,000 BC.
In parts of Africa, the tubers are still sold today as a snack.
