Resbaladera

Ingredients

The grains

• 200 gwhite rice
• 100 gpearl barley
• toasted
• 1 litrewater
• to soak

The spice

• 2 stickscinnamon
• or 2 teaspoons ground
• 1 teaspoonvanilla

The rest

• 500 mlmilk
• 1 tincondensed milk
• about 400 g
• or 200 g sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 1 litrecold water
• to thin

To serve

• plenty of ice
• ground cinnamon, to dust
• at a fiesta

Directions

1. Soak them in the refrigerator. Warm soaking water grows bacteria. This contains milk and is drunk cold. Discard it if it smells at all sour. The mixture must be strained very well. Strain it through a fine cloth. Strain it twice if in any doubt. A sieve alone is simply not enough.
2. Stir or shake it before pouring. Spread the barley in a dry pan. Use a wide and heavy pan for it. Spread it out in a single layer. Work in two batches if needed. Cooking it takes about eight minutes. Toast it on a steady medium heat. Shake the pan constantly throughout. It should go a deep golden brown.
3. Take it off the moment it smells right. Tip it out of the pan at once. A hot pan keeps toasting the grain. Tip it onto a cold plate immediately. That stops the cooking dead at once. Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water. Rinse it until the water runs clearer. Two or three changes is enough.
4. Put the rice and barley in a bowl. Add the cinnamon sticks to them. Cover them with the litre of water. Give it at least four full hours. Soak them cold rather than at room temperature. Warm soaking water grows bacteria. Tip the grains and water into a blender. They do not blend down at all. Set them aside for the moment. Blend it for a good two minutes. Raw grain needs genuine time to break down.
5. Blend in batches if it is small. Do not overfill the blender at all. Line a sieve with a fine cloth. Pour the blended mixture through it. Let it drip through on its own first. Squeeze out every drop of liquid. Add a little water to the solids.
6. Blend and then strain them again. It takes a moment and is worth it. Rinse the cloth between strainings. Stir the condensed milk into the liquid. Add it gradually while stirring. It is very thick and sinks otherwise. Whisk it in thoroughly and properly. Taste it as you go on adding it. Stir in all of the fresh milk.
7. Add the vanilla and then the salt. It stops it tasting flat and cloying. Add cold water until it pours easily. It should be creamy but pourable. Add water gradually and judge it. Refrigerate it until genuinely cold. Make it well ahead if you can. Serving it is done over plenty of ice.
8. Stir it well before every pouring. Fill tall glasses right up with ice. Pour the cold drink over the ice. It is genuinely meant to be very cold. Dust ground cinnamon over the top. Dust it lightly rather than heavily. It is drunk very cold from a glass. Stir or shake it before every pour.

Technique

• Soak the grains in the refrigerator rather than at room temperature, since warm soaking water grows bacteria — a simple sensible precaution. The finished drink contains milk, must stay refrigerated throughout, keeps about three days and should be discarded if it smells at all sour.
• Strain through a cloth-lined sieve rather than a sieve alone, and strain twice if in any doubt: blended raw rice leaves fine grit that sinks and feels sandy, and only a cloth removes it properly. Squeeze the cloth out to get every drop.
• Toasting the barley is not optional — untoasted barley tastes of very little where toasted is deeply aromatic, and it is what distinguishes this from a plain rice horchata. Judge it by smell, tip it straight out of the hot pan since it keeps toasting off the heat, and note that burnt barley is acrid and unrescuable.

Substitutions

• Plain sugar stands in for condensed milk, which gives more richness and a creamier texture; both are genuinely used.
• Blending the strained solids once more with a little water and straining again extracts a little more, worth doing for a large batch.

Variations

• Blend the soaked grains a full two minutes at least, since raw grain needs genuine time to break down and a short blend leaves it very gritty; fish out the cinnamon sticks first, since they do not blend and can damage blades.
• The drink settles as it stands with the starch sinking, which is entirely normal — stir or shake it every time before pouring.
• Spanish horchata was made from tigernuts and the Americas adapted it to local grains; rice horchata is the common form and toasted barley the Costa Rican addition, making the result genuinely Costa Rican.

History

A Guanacaste refreshment served at fiestas and family gatherings, descended from Spanish horchata adapted with toasted barley.

Frequently asked questions

What is Resbaladera?

Resbaladera is a drink from Costa Rica: creamy cold drink of rice and barley with cinnamon and milk. A Guanacaste refreshment served at fiestas and family gatherings, descended from Spanish horchata adapted with toasted barley.

How long does Resbaladera take to make?

Resbaladera takes 20 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 2 litres. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Resbaladera?

Yes, within limits. Plain sugar stands in for condensed milk, which gives more richness and a creamier texture; both are genuinely used. Blending the strained solids once more with a little water and straining again extracts a little more, worth doing for a large batch.

What is the most important thing to get right in Resbaladera?

Soak them in the refrigerator. Warm soaking water grows bacteria. This contains milk and is drunk cold. Discard it if it smells at all sour. The mixture must be strained very well. Strain it through a fine cloth. Strain it twice if in any doubt. A sieve alone is simply not enough.