The drink of Mexico 🇲🇽
Somewhere between Christmas and our Dutch festive Sinterklaas, I met with a couple of friends. The original idea was to cook the just-treated Mexican mole. Due to whacky planning and the absence of some key ingredients for Mole, this idea didn't go through. But we kept it Mexican by making tacos.
But we haven't gathered to talk about tacos as the title gives away, maybe we will eventually. Hell, this week we won't even cover a dish or ingredient. After 21 Edits it is time for some drinks! For the first time in the history of Foodistory, we will cover a sort of liquor. And what better to start with than the drink of Mexico, Mezcal.
Since we were having Mexican cuisine, Sofia was so kind to bring Mezcal with her and kept filling up my glass of Mezcal. Since it was the first time I drank this liquor she passionately told me about the mythology, its history, and the process. Sadly, I was 4 glasses of Mezcal and a couple of other drinks deep at that time so most of the stuff feels like a blur. Time for a resit instead of a refill!
On top of that, Mezcal is the beverage you should drink next to Mole. Mezcal and Mole complement each other because they both have a very earthly taste. So after this Edit, you know how to impress a Mexican man or woman on a first date.
What is Mezcal
Mezcal is a collective for spirits made from the hearts of an agave plant or maguey. When drinking Mezcal you will have a smokey, fiery, earthly flavor. The different agaves spread throughout Mexico give each Mezcal its own flavor, as with grapes and wine. The most famous type of Mezcal is Tequila.
This is something Sofia made very clear during her explanation about Mezcal. Mezcal should not be confused with Tequilla. A mistake that is made very common because Tequila is more famous than Mezcal. All Tequilas are Mezcals, but not all Mezcals are Tequilas.
The production of both is regional, as is the case with champagne. Tequila is specifically made from the blue agave plant that only grows in five Mexican States. While Mezcal can be produced in eight different Mexican States, Oaxaca being the most famous.
Even though the two drinks are family of each other they still behave in a very different way. Tequila being the young rebellious brother while Mezcal is more like the formal older sister. Tequila is a drink mainly associated with going out, taking shots, and thus getting you amazingly drunk.
Mezcal is a drink you have to enjoy. You have to literally kiss the glass and sip it calmly to give the flavors their rights. You're taking a journey through the soul of the plant, a taste of the biodiversity of Mexico. And well, eventually this will also get you very drunk...
Mythology
Mexico being the land of many myths like La Llorona and Chupacabra, there are also several myths about the creation and consumption of Mezcal. Some of these myths are very old while others have been made up to create an original marketing campaign. But before we dive into these myths it is important to know the complete history and creation of Mezcal.
Remember Edit 4 where I introduced you to Melissa? She was the creature responsible for the nectar of the gods, honey. Turns out that the ancient Mexican Gods prefer something else than honey. And no, this is actually not Mezcal! It is the predecessor of Mezcal, Pulque.
The myth goes that mezcal originated when an agave plant was struck by lighting. The inside of the plant, so-called piña, was cooked and released juices. This became known as the 'elixir of the gods.'
This elixir of the gods is during pre-Spanish years known as Pulque. The indigenous tribes of Mexico like Nahuatl, Maya, and Zapoteco have been making this alcoholic beverage for thousands of years. Pulque is made from the leaves of the agave plant and once fermented becomes a milky white drink. Nowadays, Pulque is still available in Mexico and is considered as the Mexican moonshine.
A Spanish take
And then there were the Spanish around 1519. Compared to the indigenous tribes of Mexico, the Spanish were serious alcoholics. This is shown by the fact that most of their cargo existed of wine and other strong liquors. So it comes to no one’s surprise that the Spaniards soon after their arrival ran out of their alcoholic beverages.
Being the alcoholists they are, the Spaniards started looking for other alcoholic beverages and soon came across the Pulque. But the Spaniards didn't really like the milky beverage because they had to drink gallons of Pulque before they felt even the slightest tingling. So they began experimenting with the agave and pulque. The Spaniards were motivated to create something with a high alcohol percentage. The end result was Mezcal.
Production Process
The production process of Mezcal invented by the Spaniards 400 years ago is still used today, which is quite impressive because it is a pretty complex process.
While Tequila is being brewed in a mass-production way because of its high demand around the world, Mezcal is still produced in the traditional way. The agaves for Mezcal are being slow-cooked for days in so-called palenques (firepits). After boiling, the agaves are crushed by a volcanic rock or tahona weighing about 2000 kilos that’s powered by a mule.
At last the fermentation and the distillation process. After distillating twice you get the base of a Mezcal, a blanq Mezcal called joven. The Mezcal is now ready to mature in an oak or bourbon barrel for Reposado (1 year) or Anejo (until 3 years).
400 Rabbits
Another myth about Mezcal that is often told in Mexican households is the myth of the 400 Rabbits. And it goes like this...
Mayahuel (mother of the agave plants and Goddess of alcohol) and her husband Petecatl (God of the Medicine) had 400 rabbits as children. As you can understand, feeding 400 rabbit children every day is financially and logistically almost impossible. That’s why Mayahuel had 400 breasts that produced the elixir of the gods, pulque.
These 400 Rabbits became known as the 400 Gods of Drunkness, one can only wonder why... The rabbits stood for the infinite ways in which people could intoxicate themselves. The number 400 is in the Aztec numbering such a big number that it also meant infinity. So when somebody got absolutely smashed, Aztecs would say he was 'drunk as 400 rabbits.'
To get a better perspective of these 400 Drunken Gods I would like to introduce you to a few of them:
Tepoztacatl (Ome Tochtli) a.k.a. Two Rabbit
Tepoztacatl was considered the leader or king of all the Drunken Rabbits and thus carried the name of God of Pulque. Tepoztacatl loves fertility and drunkness, especially a combination of these two. He stands for the libido that is raised after conceiving alcohol.
Macuil Tochtli a.k.a. Five Rabbit
Whereas his older brother is a bit of a romantic and live-in-the-moment type of guy, Macuil Tochtli is already thinking about the next day. Officially he is the God of Alcoholic Beverages but he also stood famous for the consequences of drunk behavior. Basically the Rabbit God of Getting Smashed and Hangovers.
Tequechamecauiani a.k.a God of Hanging
This one is quite remarkable. Apparently, it was a very normal thing for Aztec people to accidentally hang themselves when they were drunk. It is also thought that this Rabbit is a reference to the death penalty by strangling youngsters would get when they got secretly drunk. Only old people were allowed to drink in Aztec communities.
Techalotl a.k.a. God of Dance
Techalotl is a literal translation of the word Squirrel. Techelotl was known as the drunk guy on the dancefloor stepping on everyone's toes.
Now it doesn't end happily for our 400 Drunken Rabbits, which is pretty understandable if you’re drunk 24/7. Because one day the Rabbits somehow made the mistake of killing the mother of Huitzilopochtli, who is the Aztec God of War and Sun. As you can understand, this God of War showed no mercy at all.
Huitzilopochtli turned into a frenzy and didn't sleep until she found all the 400 Drunken Rabbits. He decapitated some of the bunnies, ripped out their hearts, stabbed them, or threw them of the temple. Eventually, all the bunnies were dead.
I know this myth isn't specifically about Mezcal but more about alcoholic beverages in general. The reason why this myth is often told at a Mexican household table is to alert the youngsters of what alcohol can do to you.
Ending
Congrats to you if you have made it to the absolute end of this long edit. I hope you enjoyed the very first Edit at Foodistory of a liquor. I'm planning to do more of these since most liquors bring funny and surprising stories. If you're like: 'Hey, you guys really need to cover that drink or liquor.' Let us know on our Instagram!
I hope I have done you justice Sofia…