Tejuino

Tejuino . It is an artisanal corn- based drink whose origin dates back nearly seven thousand years, since vestiges have been found in archaeological areas of Jalisco.

Summary

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• 1 History
  • 1 From the mountains
  • 2 Tejuineros
  • 3 From the Nevado de Colima
  • 4 Jalisco tradition
  • 5 Your second job
  • 6 A difficult trade
• 2 Preparation
  • 1 The mass
  • 2 Fermentation
  • 3 Tasting
• 3 External links
• 4 Sources

History

Originally used for sacred rituals in the Sierra Tarahumara , the Tejino has come a long way through hundreds of years to reach the palates of the Mazatlecos. Burdened by the heat, the porteños have made the Tejino one of their favorite drinks; They savor the combination of fermented corn, salt and lemon, and rarely stop to think that they drink one of the most Mexican drinks you can find.

Taking advantage of the long hot season , several weavers tour the port in the mornings and some of them have managed to found prosperous businesses that support dozens of families. Used to cool off or just to satisfy a craving, the Tejino also boasts some nutritional characteristics and despite the fact that in its long journey through the country it has been “tropicalizing”, depending on the region where it finds followers, its flavor continues to trace us back to pre-Hispanic Mexico .

From the mountains

The long journey of the Tejino and its evolution begins with the Nahuatl word: Tecuín, which begins to walk and transform into Tecuini, Tecuino, Tesgüino and finally Tejino. The translation of tecuín can be understood as beating or throbbing, due to the state of euphoria caused by taking it, especially when it presents a high degree of fermentation. The indigenous groups of northern Mexico that created it still consume it in their rituals, sports competitions and traditional festivals, and for the Tarahumara it is sometimes even sacred.

Originally the Tejino is not only prepared with corn, it is also prepared with sugar cane and fruit juice , and the indigenous people ferment it for up to 30 days, making it a drink with degrees of alcohol . A softer variety of Tejino is offered at the port, fermented with piloncillo and lemon and salt, some even add lemon snow .

Tejuineros

Tejino offers itself through the streets of the port and enduring the strongest months of heat, on tricycles, carts or motorcycles. El Tucán , El Perico , El Paisa , El Rayo and El Champions are just some of the merchants who have fused their names with the nickname that their clients repeat to request a glass of 5, 7, 10 or 15 pesos. The most solid or those that already offer a tradition of several years selling Tejino are El Tucán and El Perico, both have tricycles, in addition to their own fixed businesses: both, as good competition, on the same street, the Aquiles Serdán, in front of the old CinemaReform. The history of the two businesses dates back to a Texan tradition that comes from Jalisco.

From the Nevado de Colima

Sergio Maestre Villarreal in Mazatlán is known as El Tucán and he says that he was born in Zapotlán el Grande (formerly Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco ) where he grew up learning to make the Tejino that his father sold in a wooden pond. “My dad started a wood business in Ciudad Guzmán, it was a small place at the foot of the house. The ice was brought down by people from the Nevado de Colima, every day, they had deliveries, like milk.” The business was going well, so well that Maestre Villarreal was sent to study at the University, but on a trip to Mazatlán his course was twisted: he met the woman with whom he is still in love: Reina Ramírez.

She encouraged him, helped him buy his first tricycle on credit and on his wheels revolutionized the sale of the Texan in Mazatlán, it was the end of the 70s, the seed of a business that today has branches in front of the Administrative Unit, Mercado Juan Carrasco and Sundays at the Tianguis de la Juárez. In Aquiles Serdán they have their fixed business that opens practically all day. Maestre Villarreal no longer pedals the trike , now he rides it in his truck and his two daughters study professional careers, while the woman who ripped it from the slopes of the Nevado de Colima awaits him at home forever.

Jalisco tradition

Timoteo Razo says that his grandparents prepared Tejino to enjoy at home, that they learned the recipe on a visit to Chihuahua and that it was his father, José Luis Razo, who turned it into a business and after offering it in Guadalajara , brought it to Mazatlán . “It is a family tradition, but the one who made it business was my father, since I can remember he sold it in Guadalajara,” explains Razo. His father founded El Perico, a business that extends beyond Mazatlán because Don José Luis currently offers it in Los Cabos. Two of his sons stayed here, Timoteo runs the fixed premises they have in Aquiles Serdán, while his brother offers the same recipe between Colonia Azteca and Parque Bonfil.

His second job

Without the tradition of a Tejino family and starting out in business, Mario Parada García offers his Tejino on a tricycle called El Paisa. Her story is young in business, she worked for six years selling denim for someone else, but three years ago she decided to go it alone and currently offers her own version. El Paisa says that his main job is to embark on the shrimp catch season and that the Texan fills the six-month landing. “It comes out of the day, 200, 250 pesos, it is to eat, but my main job is that of boats,” says Parada García. These days he is preparing to return to the sea, but he assures that next year he will go out to offer the Texan that feeds his family.

A difficult trade

The Texan is not an easy business, it is a daily and intense job that requires working from 5:00 in the morning to go out to sell until noon and invest all afternoon in the preparation of what will be offered the next day.

One of the big questions for Texan consumers is the use of carbonate. All the weavers use it, they add a pinch to the glass, along with the lemon and the salt. And it has nothing to do with the flavor or the ingredients of the drink, it is used as a protector of the stomach , thus eliminating any problem that the drink that finally goes through a fermentation process can cause. In the midst of the celebrations of the Bicentennial of Independence and the Centennial of the Revolution , the Tejino stands as an authentic Mexican drink.

Preparation

Boil the water with the piloncillo until it melts. Apart and in little water, grind the dough in the blender and add this to the boiling water. A gruel forms and when it is almost cold, squeeze the lemons. Let stand 2 or 3 days until fermented, preferably in a clay pot covered with a clean blanket. The result is a thick atole with its characteristic color. Serve the fermented atole with crushed ice , lemon juice and salt and empty from one fret to another several times until well mixed.

Mass

• Soak the raw corn for three days.
• During the soaking, the water is changed every day.
• Once the corn pops it is ground and kneaded

Fermentation

• The dough is cooked for 1 hour 40 minutes.
• Before it boils, add brown sugar, sugar and salt.
• It is rocked throughout the cooking time.
• Strain and let cool for a period of several days to ferment, in closed pails.
• 6 days in cold weather
• 3 days in hot weather

Tasting

• According to the glass, there are 5, 7, 10 and 15 pesos, an amount of lemon, salt and bicarbonate are added.
• Crushed ice is added, almost frappe.
• The main ingredient, the Texan concentrate, is added to the last one, stirring it with the ice until it is a uniform mixture.