On the way back to Puebla we stopped at a small house just beside the road. It was our last chance to get Pulque. Some dogs approached immediately to us and warned their owner that someone wanted the precious beverage.
We didn’t have time to get out of the car, because a Lady hastily walked out and waved, crossing her both arms, signifying once again that luck was not on our side, No pulque in the whole town!!
SE VENDE PULKE DE MAGEY was the sign at the yard of the hut, meaning “Pulque of Maguey on sale”, which took me some minutes to realize the lack of the letter “U” in Pulque and Maguey. By the way, isn’t this beverage always made out of the Maguey plant?
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, let’s start from the beginning. Pulque is a traditional Mexican alcoholic beverage produced from the fermentation of the fresh sap known as aguamiel (mead), extracted from several species of Agave (maguey) plants that grow in the Central Mexico.
The Pulque is a milky white, thick and acidic beverage with an alcohol content between 4 and 7° GL, and its consumption dates back to pre-Hispanic times. Only rulers and in certain occasions people were allowed to drink this precious beverage.
An ancient mural which depicts a scene of drunken revelry as part of a pre-Hispanic ceremony dedicated to the goddess Mayahuel, was found in the archaeological site of Cholula in 1969. And today visitors can see the replica at the archaeological site of Cholula, near Puebla city.
There are endless of benefits from the pulque: it prevents gastrointestinal diseases, it stimulates the immune system, it helps lower cholesterol, food supplement, etc.
There are so many things I would like to tell you about the pulque; like how drinking glasses had colorful names and could reflect the customer’s ability to drink pulque. Or how the Pulque lost its power after the introduction of beer in our country.
Why don’t you come to Mexico and we have a deeper conversation about the pulque?
Alejandra
Certified tourist guide
info@vivenciasmexico.com.mx
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