Tepache
- For the municipality in the Mexican state of Sonora, see Tepache, Sonora
 | |
| Course | Beverage |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Mexico |
| Serving temperature | cold |
| Main ingredients | pineapple, piloncillo |
| Variations | added beer and cinnamon |
Tepache is a fermented beverage made from the peel and the rind of pineapples, and is sweetened either with piloncillo or brown sugar, seasoned with powdered cinnamon, and served cold. Though tepache is fermented for several days, the resulting drink does not contain much alcohol. In Mexican culinary practice, the alcoholic content of tepache may be increased with a small amount of beer.
In Mexico, tepache is usually sold as a chilled drink by street vendors. In the U.S., it is sold in juice bars in the Mexican American communities of Southwestern United States. The fermentation process for making tepache is simple and quick, which makes tepache a drink readily produced at home.[1] Culturally, tepache is a drink common to natives of Mexico and the Mexican immigrant communities of the U.S.[1]
Origin
Tepache dates from Pre-Columbian Mexico, as a popular drink among the Nahua people of central Mexico; in the náhuatl language, the word tepache means "drink made from corn". Originally, corn (maize) was the base of tepache, but the contemporary recipe for tepache uses pineapple rinds as the foodstuff fermented to produce the tart drink that is tepache.[2]
Commercialization
Because of the popularity of tepache in Mexico, the drink is now being produced commercially as a non-alcoholic drink. There are a few different brands of tepache including Tepache from the Frumex Corporation.
Popular Culture
The drink tepache is mentioned in the popular Spanish-language quebradita song La Niña Fresa ("The Spoiled Girl"), by Banda Zeta, in which the spoiled-girl character is offered several types of drink — including tepache — yet she refuses them all, for being beneath her social status.[3]
In Street Fighter IV, the luchador character El Fuerte has a movelist that reads like a combination of a restaurant menu and wrestling moves. Tepache is one such item referenced in it.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Fermented Drinks-Tepache". Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ "Tepache—Easy, Delicious, and Healthful!". Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ^ "La Chica Fresa Lyrics". Retrieved 2014-03-12.