Tesgüino

Tesgüino is a corn beer made by the Tarahumara Indians of Sierra Madre in Mexico.[1] The Tarahumaras regard the beer as sacred, and it forms a significant part of their society.[2] Anthropologist John Kennedy reports that "the average Tarahumaras spends at least 100 days per year directly concerned with tesgüino and much of this time under its influence or aftereffects."

Varieties

The general Tarahumara term for an alcoholic beverage is "Sugíki"; and "batári" is used when the beer is specifically made from corn or lichen flour;[3] "paciki" is used when the beer is made from fresh corn stalks.[4] While tesgüino made from corn is considered the most sacred, the Tarahumara also make beer from agave[2] and wheat,[3] as well as other alcoholic beverages made from fruits such as peaches, berries, crab apples, cactus fruits, and mesquite seeds.[5]

Production

The beer is made from corn kernels which are soaked, then ground up, boiled and left to ferment naturally with wild yeast. A local grass is used in place of hops for flavouring.

See also

References

  1. ↑ NPR: The Sacred Corn Beer of the Tarahumara
  2. 1 2 Southwest Agave Project Archived May 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 TARAHUMARA (rarámuri)
  4. ↑ Pennington, C. W. (1983). Tarahumara. In W. C. Sturtevant (Ed.), The handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 10. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
  5. ↑ Tesguino

Notes

  1. ^ Boza is an Eastern European beer made from wheat.
  2. ^ Pulque is a Mexican alcoholic beverage made from agave.
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