ADDICTION CRISIS

By Craig Castleman

During a recent visit to Valencia I became addicted to a drug stronger than Oxycontin or crack cocaine, and I am suffering terribly from withdrawal because it is a drug available in pure form only in Valencia, and nowhere else on earth:  ORXATA!

I blame my drug problem on Dr. Juan  Antonio Canales Hidalgo, Professor of Fine Arts at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and co-sponsor of Poliniza Dos, the internationally renowned festival of “Muralismo” that has filled the walls of the campus with beautiful works of art from all around the world for the past fourteen years.  This year I was honored to be invited to participate, hence my  introduction to “The Pusher Man.”

Juan

Juan took me on several tours of the city and its surroundings and his knowledgeable and eloquent introductions to the art and the architecture of Valencia were both enthralling and enlightening.  He even took me to see all of the amazing graffiti murals that enhance many public spaces around the city.

His food tours resulted in my first tastes of salmorejo (also addictive), and real Paella Valenciana: the rice just one inch deep, the flavor rich and comlplex, made with chicken and rabbit in the traditional way.  It was completely unlike the huge pans of insipid rice colored with turmeric and smothered with frozen seafood and canned peas that is served here in the United States.  Juan’s tours sold me on the fact that Valencia is a paradise of art and cuisine, and it is essential that I visit again and again.

My problem is that his final tour was of his favorite orxaterias, and now I cannot go on living without this drink of the gods.  Here in New Mexico we make horchata with corn, not chufa, and it is a miserable substitute for the real thing.  I NEED ORXATA!

Of the many places we visited, his favorite is Orxateria Vida at Partida de Saboia, 6,  Alboraia , and I must say that their version was wonderful and there is something magical about drinking it while watching vast fields of chufa grow just outside the window.  Still, I do not want to argue with anybody — each Valencian, I am sure, has his or her favorite — so I will simply say that every place we visited was wonderful in its own way.

Valencians: be grateful that this life-giving resource is close at hand.  Visitors:  Beware! One sip is enough to convince you to sell your house, wherever it is, and move immediately to Valencia.

Regards, a soon-to-be Valencian by adoption.