Tequila Memories

Tequila, like the Mexican people who created it, derives from mestizaje, the mixing of Indian and European elements. Impose a European distilling process on the native blue agave plant and you have tequila.

But for me, tequila is a personal thing. My aunt Cecilia had an interest in a Guadalajara tequila factory with her husband, Uncle Carlos, who died many years ago. The brand was Rosales, their family name, and they were full of tequila lore. Our families often visited when I was a child.

Of the clan, my favorite was one of the eight children: my cousin Guillermo, better known as El Siki. He was the perfect companion, whether we were in Guadalajara or Cuernavaca. My sister and I both made him best man at our weddings.

During Easter, El Siki used to visit our house in Cuernavaca along with a group of friends we all found irresistible. Every Sabado de Gloria (Easter Saturday), my parents gave a party at which the men would dress up as charros (Mexican cowboys) and the women wore traditional dresses.

At those parties, as the tequila was being served, El Siki would tell us about it. The first people to make tequila, he’d recall, were children of European parents who owned vast lands in the state of Jalisco. They called it “clearer than water and stronger than moonshine.”

Once we became captivated by the story, he would tease us with questions he knew we could never answer. “Do you know who began the process, and when mass production began?” he’d ask, and pause for a second for us all to shout “No,” and then he would tell us. “Well, in 1758, Jose Antonio de Cuervo and his sons Jose Maria Guadalupe and Jose Prudencio bought large properties in the town of Tequila, a place where blue agave grew in abundance. By 1795, King Charles IV of Spain granted the Cuervo family the license to produce the drink, then known as wine-mezcal. That was the beginning of mass tequila production.”

El Siki would also tell us the story of Cenobio Sauza, who used to work for the Cuervo family and was the first to export tequila to the United States. By the end of the century, his exporting empire had also reached Guatemala, El Salvador, Spain, France and England.

It was better to get his history lesson in Guadalajara, where he could point out the different parts of the process in the family tequila factory. Listening to him as I watched the tequila being made, I always wondered how a small group of 18th century entrepreneurs, working in a lost little corner of Mexico, managed to create this drink, so uniquely Mexican, which would go on to become world-famous.

Just a few months ago, I visited Guadalajara once again. Obviously, my first call was to my aunt and cousins. As we reminisced about the good old days, I told them my husband and I were planning to visit a tequila factory, to remind me of El Siki’s tequila lessons and to check up on the latest technological advances.

Tequila is a small town a few miles northwest of Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco. The road there is lined with hundreds of the spiny blue agave plants from whose hearts tequila is made.

The first stage of tequila-making, of course, is planting and caring for those plants, which take eight to 10 years to mature. Then strong men hack off the leaves and remove the hearts, which look like pineapples but are about 10 times as bit. Highly skilled workers then select the ripest and sweetest.

Then the hearts are steamed to soften them and ready them for the mills where their juice is extracted. On my visit to the tequila factory, I had the opportunity to taste a slice of agave heart just as it came out of the oven. It was much like freshly cooked sugar cane.

When the juice is pressed out, it is fermented into a wine and then distilled. The last step is the maturation process. The length of time determines the type of tequila.

White tequila is the youngest of the four types. Gold tequila is white tequila mixed with an aged tequila to give it some color. The third kind is reposado, which matures in wooden barrels from two to 12 months. Then there is anejo, the oldest, which ages in white oak casks for over a year.

Today there are about 75 million agave plants and 33 distilleries in Jalisco. They produce more than 85 million liters of tequila, nearly a third of which is exported, mostly to the United States, at a high proof to save shipping costs. In this country, it’s diluted to 80 proof and packaged. Mexican distilleries also have manufacturing plants in Austria, Australia, Belgium, El Salvador and Switzerland.

Tequila is an aperitif that is usually drunk to stimulate the appetite. Because it awakens hunger, it is usually served alongside hors d’oeuvres or botanas such as sopes, zucchini flower or huitlacoche (corn fungus) quesadillas, potato and chorizo tacos, tortillas with fresh Mexican cheese and homemade salsa or fruit salads such as jicama with mangoes sprinkled with lemon juice and red pepper.

Like other fine liqueurs, tequila has its traditional accompaniments. The most popular are sangrita (spicy tomato juice), beer and a simple slice of lime with some salt on the side. People make tequila cocktails such as the Changuirongo (with Coca-Cola), Vampire Tequila (with orange juice) or the well-known Margarita. Many people mix tequila with Maggi sauce, making a mixture as dark as crude oil.

Though tequila is basically enjoyed as a drink, it can be used in cooking. Modern Mexican cuisine has been returning to its roots for inspiration and creating sophisticated recipes such as meat or shellfish marinated in tequila. There are also the so-called drunken sauces. Tequila can be added to Italian sauces, as vodka sometimes is, but the result will be a distinctive Mexican flavor.

The mestizaje--mixing--goes on.

CHICKEN, CHILE AND TEQUILA

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Salt

2 tablespoons butter

6 tablespoons oil

3/4 cup tequila

4 pasilla chiles

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 large clove garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

Season chicken with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat butter and 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add chicken and cook, turning 3 to 4 times, about 20 minutes. Do not brown. Add tequila and marinate at room temperature.

Roast chiles under broiler or over gas flame, turning until skin is blackened and chiles are soft. Brush off charred skin, and remove stem and seeds. Cut into squares.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and chiles, and saut until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.

Chop onion, garlic and chiles with 1 cup broth, in food processor until chunky.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat, and cook chile mixture until thickened and reduced by 1/3, about 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Remove chicken breasts from marinade and set aside. Add reduced chile sauce and remaining 1 cup broth to skillet with marinade. Cook over medium heat until thickened, 10 to 12 minutes. Return chicken to pan and cook until just heated through, 4 to 5 minutes.

6 servings. Each serving:

427 calories; 852 mg sodium; 110 mg cholesterol; 20 grams fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 42 grams protein; 0.29 gram fiber.

ROASTED PORK IN TEQUILA MUSTARD

3 cups water

2 pounds boneless pork loin

1/2 large onion, quartered

2 large cloves garlic, halved

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil

16 small red boiling potatoes

1/2 cup tequila

2 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons flour

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Combine water, pork, onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and oregano in heavy saucepan, and cook over high heat until water evaporates, 45 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-high, add olive oil and brown pork on all sides. Add potatoes, tequila and broth. Cover pan and cook 20 minutes.

Stir flour into sour cream. Add mustard and sour cream mixture to pork, and cook over medium heat until sauce is thick, 10 to 15 minutes.

Slice thinly or in 4 chunks. Pour sauce over pork and arrange potatoes around. Garnish with parsley.

4 servings. Each serving:

685 calories; 1,174 mg sodium; 122 mg cholesterol; 43 grams fat; 24 grams carbohydrates; 37 grams protein; 0.59 gram fiber.

SHRIMP TEQUILEROS

2 green bell peppers, cut in strips

2 red bell peppers, cut in strips

2 yellow bell peppers, cut in strips

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 small cactus paddles

4 shallots, chopped

1 pound giant shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 1/4 cups tequila

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup sour cream

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Salt, pepper

Saut green, red and yellow bell pepper strips in 1/4 cup butter over medium-low heat until softened, about 10 minutes.

Clean cactus paddles. (See Chef’s Tip, above.) Broil or grill cactus paddles until tender, about 5 minutes. Cut into strips and set aside.

Saut shallots in remaining 1/4 cup butter over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Add shrimps and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Pour tequila into pan. When hot, light carefully with match and cook until flame disappears.

Stir flour into sour cream and add to pan. Cook at bare simmer, about 10 minutes. Add chopped cilantro, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with peppers and cactus.

4 servings. Each serving:

529 calories; 453 mg sodium; 198 mg cholesterol; 37 grams fat; 17 grams carbohydrates; 19 grams protein; 0.57 gram fiber.

TEQUILA SEA BASS

2 small tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, quartered

1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 cup Mexican cream

3 ounces tequila

Salt, pepper

6 (5- to 6-ounce) sea bass filets

6 tablespoons lemon juice

Roast tomatoes, garlic and onion in dry skillet over high heat until charred and softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Put tomatoes, garlic and onion in food processor or blender with chipotle chiles to taste, and puree. (Chipotle chiles are very hot so choose amount carefully; 1 chile is mild, 4 are hot.)

Melt butter over high heat and fry sauce until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Add cream and tequila, and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Season sea bass with salt and pepper to taste and lemon juice. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat and fry filets until they just start to flake when touched with fork, about 5 minutes per side depending on thickness of fish. Serve over white rice with sauce.

6 servings. Each serving without rice:

392 calories; 344 mg sodium; 156 mg cholesterol; 25 grams fat; 6 grams carbohydrates; 25 grams protein; 0.45 gram fiber.

COOK’S TIP

Most cactus paddles sold in markets have the larger thorns removed. The small, irregular bumps that remain, however, conceal almost invisible thorns that need to be trimmed off. Choose firm, unwrinkled, bright green paddles; avoid dark green paddles or those with dry skin. To clean cactus paddles, trim the edge of the paddle all around with a knife, then cut off the tough, thick base. Use a vegetable peeler or sharp knife to shave off the small bumps in the paddle. Then slice the paddle into strips, squares or rounds as called for in the recipe.

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Platters in cover photo of Tequila Sea Bass and photo of Shrimp Tequileros, above, by Rebecca Harvey. Shot glasses on cover and black bowl, above, by John Gilvey. Porcelain plates in cover photo of Chicken, Chile and Tequila and photo of Roasted Pork in Tequila Mustard, above, by Alec Karros. All from Freehand, Los Angeles.