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Write: Marichuy Garduño
Photo: Bertha Herrera. (@BERTHA HERRERA)
El pulque It is a Mexican elixir that has been highly appreciated since pre-Hispanic times. Currently, it is part of the gastronomic wealth of a whole nation
Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla and the State of Mexico are the places where traditionally the pulque. This was elaborated since pre-Hispanic times and was considered a holy drinkThat is why it could only be consumed by priests and kings.
Pulque is obtained from the fermentation of mead, the latter is what produces the maguey, plant of the agavaceae family. In Mexico there are about two hundred species of agavaceae.
The taste of this drink is bittersweet, although if it is left to ferment for long hours it becomes more acidic.
Once the mead (pulque), you can prepare the so-called "cured", which are a mixture of various ingredients. The result is spectacular and delicious.
Some of the foods with which it becomes in "cured" they are fruits, peanut, capulín, almond, pineapple, celery, oatmeal, pineapple, tomato. Also with guava, orange and red prickly pear it becomes an irresistible “cured”.
Although get pulque It is not a simple task. The one in charge of removing the mead from maguey, who is called tlachiquero, you have to do a long job. It has to be extracted from the heart of the plant, after scraping the interior for approximately five months. Then, with the help of a cocoon, he sucks it up and places it in a water tank, liquid that has to ferment.
Thus, the pulque it is a drink that is very much enjoyed. It is an elixir with a high nutritional valueIt also adapts to any pocket. Its flavor is sure to enchant you.
Pulque, a highly appreciated elixir
The historian Jesús Flores y Escalante in his text Brief History of Mexican Cuisine mentions that, from the pre-Columbian period, the pulque it had created a special religiosity among the pre-Hispanic people. At present the presence of this drink has occurred in different manifestations.
For example, the popularity of the pulque in the culinary arts, music, dance, literature and theater.
Today there are verses and verses that the Mexican people have preserved, either by oral and written tradition, related to this drink:
“Water from the green bushes,
you knock me down, you kill me,
you make me crawl "
(Popular)
“Cured pulque is sold, of all the colors,
even the dead rejoice,
with these beautiful flavors "
(Excerpt from the Fiesta de Santa Ana corrido)
