Join us for a tour of the sweet bread of Mexico, Latin and South America as we take a new pastry each week to discuss and share history, our favorites, and other fun facts! Call store for availability.
Feliz Navidad! This week we are bringing you a special holiday treat. Not exactly pan dulce, but definitely a unique Latino twist on a chocolate favorite.
We don’t have any tequila flavored pan dulce (hmmm maybe we should) so this is the perfect time to talk about this Mexican favorite liquor distilled from the juice of the heart of the blue agave! Similar to champagne, the name tequila is protected internationally. In Mexico it is only allowed to be produced in Jalisco (almost all of the tequila production), and in certain limited areas in the states of Tamaulipas, Nayarit, Michoacán, and Guanajuato.
There are over 200 different types of the agave plant, but only the blue agave is used in tequila making. (Another similar liquor known as mezcal uses blue agave or other of the agave variations). The plant itself is often confused for a cactus with leathery leaves and spines along the edges.
Most blue agaves take around 8 years to mature and when they are ready to harvest the stem known as the piña – or heart – is removed and then boiled or steamed before starting fermentation. The different types of tequila (blanco, reposado, anejo, extra anejo) are characterized mainly by the length of aging.
Buen provecho!