TIGER NUT MILK
The future is here, and it’s characterised by a nut milk that’s not even made from nuts. Introducing Madame Tiger: a new Melbourne-made, plant-based milk range made from tiger nuts, a nutrient-dense tuber with a purported aphrodisiacal twist. Sustainable, nutritious and ethically sourced, Madame Tiger’s products are doing a roaring trade in cafés, and they’re also making their way into more and more health food stores and premium grocers across the country. Here’s founder Laura Hindson with the lowdown on the milk of tomorrow.
Tiger nut milk is milk made from tiger nuts. Tiger nuts, strangely enough, are not actually nuts. They’re powerful little nutrient-dense root vegetables, or tubers. Tiger nuts only need rainwater to grow, making them a super-sustainable ingredient for plant-based milk.
How do you make it?
We start by soaking the tiger nuts to soften and rehydrate them, and we then wash them and put them through a giant crusher or grinder with water. After the tiger nuts are ground down into a milky liquid, we filter out the fibre to get smooth, creamy tiger nut milk.
Then we blend it with Australian extra virgin olive oil, fava bean protein grown and processed in Horsham, a little bit of Demerara sugar, which is less refined, a blend of calcium and vitamins to match the vitamins and minerals in full cream cow’s milk and a pinch of sea salt.
The Barista Tiger Nut Milk and the Original Tiger Nut Milk have all the same ingredients, just different proportions. The original milk was developed to be a suitable replacement for cow’s milk for children under two, so it has a lot more protein than the barista milk. The Barista Tiger Nut Milk has more of a subtle creamy taste designed to complement coffee.
What are the perfect conditions to enjoy Madame Tiger?
Our Barista Tiger Nut Milk really does pair purrfectly with coffee (pardon the pun). I’ve tried incredibly hard to find the right balance of tasting a hint of something unique, being the tiger nuts, but achieving a mostly neutral, sweet, creamy taste that complements coffee.
The Original Tiger Nut Milk is great in smoothies; it makes them extra creamy. Pour a whisker on your muesli, or if you’re a real hardcore plant-milk enthusiast, then go for a straight-up glass.
Tiger nuts are also an aphrodisiac, so we are told, so start with these suggestions and go where your heart takes you.
