Food & Drink

Morisqueta is everyday fare in the villages of the Tierra Caliente, right where the wild agaves grow. The rice comes to the plate with crispy fried pork rinds, chorizo, and red chili sauce. It's hearty, just as the climate here is hot.

At festivals, Churipo often comes to the table. It's a Purépecha stew made from beef, vegetables, and dried chilies. It's usually served together with corundas, triangular tamales made from corn dough.

Mezcal from Etúcuaro or Tzitzio is rarely drunk alone on such occasions. At the fiestas patronales, the villages' patron saint celebrations, a single jícara of mezcal passes from hand to hand around the circle. Everyone takes a small sip and passes it on.

This way of drinking grounds the mezcal back in where it comes from: the shared work at the oven, not the bar. The smoky, piney note of the distillate pairs especially well with the heat of the red sauce on the morisqueta. It doesn't mask the smoke, but complements it.

Those eating churipo instead will find a counterweight in the mezcal. It stands up to the acidity of the chilies and the richness of the beef, without either drink overpowering the other.

Neither dish calls for etiquette or prior knowledge, just patience in the cooking. The same holds true for the mezcal craft in these very villages.

Anyone trying either dish for the first time quickly notices that no one here cooks for tourists. The recipes come from the kitchens of the same families who run the tabernas.