Naked Men & Tequila

I've mentioned my continuing search for a good margarita since my trip to Mexico last year (the one I had at Cilantro in Salem still tops the US list). We had the best margs ever in a restaurant called La Tequila in Guadalajara, which is very near the town of Tequila where they grow the agave from which tequila is made. Looking out the windows of the bus we rode to Guadalajara, we could see fields of agave for miles. When I drink tequila now, always in a margarita, I often remember La Tequila and the agave fields. Now I will have something else to think about, from an article in Orion magazine:

Until I read in a Salman Rushdie novel about naked men in vats of agave juice, making tequila, I thought I understood and knew Mexico. After all, I had traveled and photographed there for twenty years. I called my friend Andres Zamudio, a Mexican art director living in New York, to ask him about it. Over a bottle in a bar in SoHo, he explained that "to understand Mexico, you must understand something of tequila and tradition. Tequila was a gift from the gods to the Aztec, a sacrament to be respected, which it remains today." He had not, however, heard of a technique for making tequila that involved naked men in vats. We concluded that if such a thing existed, it would be worth knowing about.

Yes indeed it would. The only thing better than a good margarita... well, never mind. Click to see the article and some gorgeous photos, if awfully romanticized for what is undoubtedly back-breaking work. Thanks to Dave for sending me the link.

Comments

[MB]

This will forever change the way I think of tequila, you know.

[Lorianne]

Naked men & tequila...what's not to love? ;-)

[Dave]

One of my favorite writers, the Southwestern ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, has just co-authored a book called Tequila: A Natural and Cultural History. I haven't seen it, but I can vouch for the high quality of his writing and insights. His co-author is a leading Mexican agronomist, apparently.

[leslee]

MB & Lorianne: exactly.

Dave: Too bad I didn't find this earlier; it would have made good reading on my trip. Maybe when I get back.