Food & Drink

In the villages around Miahuatlán, Mezcal from the Sierra Sur is usually paired with a tlayuda, a large, crispy corn flatbread. It comes topped with black beans, asiento (the rendered fat of the pig), cabbage, and tomato. Often a bit of tasajo joins in too, thinly sliced, salted beef grilled over charcoal. This combination is common throughout the highlands.

At festivals, such as the feast day of a local patron saint, a regional mole sauce is often served, usually over turkey or chicken, alongside tortillas made from blue or white corn. Mezcal isn't served separately as an aperitif or digestif here; it accompanies the entire meal, in small sips between bites. That's how the feast blends into the everyday rhythm of the kitchen.

A firm custom at such occasions is the round poured in a circle. A host pours from a single bottle into a jícara or copita, passes it around, everyone takes their sip, and the bowl moves on. Declining is quickly seen as impolite within the group, though no one is pressured to drink. The gesture matters more than the amount in the glass.

A mineral, lightly smoky Mezcal pairs especially well with the spicy heat of many Sierra Sur dishes. Chile pastes or pickled vegetables suit Tepeztate or Tobalá better than a sweeter Barril. The heat lingers on the palate, and the Mezcal tends to clear it away rather than amplify it. That's exactly the point of this pairing at the table.