Tesguino

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Tesguino is a corn beer made by the Tarahumara Indians of Sierra Madre in Mexico[1]. The Tarahumara regard the beer as sacred, and it forms a significant part of their society[2]. Anthropologist John Kennedy reports that "the average Tarahumara spends at least 100 days per year directly concerned with tesguino and much of this time under its influence or aftereffects."[3].

Contents

[edit] Varieties

The general Tarahumara term for an alcoholic beverage is "Sugíki"; "batári" is used when the beer is specifically made from corn or lichen flour [4]; "paciki" is used when the beer is made from fresh corn stalks [5]. While tesguino made from corn is considered the most sacred, the Tarahumara also make beer from agave[1] and wheat[2], as well as other alcoholic beverages made from fruits such as peaches, berries, crabapples, cactus fruits,and Mesquite seeds [6].

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

  1. ^ NPR: The Sacred Corn Beer of the Tarahumara
  2. ^ Southwest Agave Project
  3. ^ John G. Kennedy, Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre, AHM Publishing
  4. ^ TARAHUMARA (rarámuri)
  5. ^ Pennington, C. W. (1983). Tarahumara. In W. C. Sturtevant (Ed.), The handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 10. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
  6. ^ Tesguino

[edit] Notes

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