Although his sight and hearing were failing, Isaac Jiménez’s memory was still sharp. One afternoon in 2012, at his ranch in Santiago Matatlán, the self-proclaimed mezcal capital of the world, ninety-two-year-old Don Isaac remembered rocking in his favorite old rickety wooden chair: “When you ask me about the origins of Mezcal de pechuga, I can’t take you beyond 1930 “, he confesses apologizing, then continues:” It was then that Ramón Sánchez arrived with his family in Matatlán. “
Mezcal, of course, is the agave-based spirit, distilled in many regions of Mexico. The southern state of Oaxaca is where it occurs most. Traditionally, a ton or more of the plant’s carb-rich hearts or pineapples are baked in a sealed oven, buried in firewood and rocks, after which, now hopefully sweet like sugar, they are crushed using a beast of burden or hand using a wooden mallet, then it is naturally fermented using environmental yeasts and only water is added to it, before being distilled in copper pot stills or pot stills, or clay pot arrangements. There are countless means of production and tools of the trade, but the above sums up the basics.
My effort to know the history of breast mezcal, and to a lesser extent catalog variations of its recipe, lead me to Don Isaac, whose grandfather arrived in Matatlán in 1870. Without a doubt there are several myths and legends regarding its origin, in at least as many as there are compared to the first time that an Oaxacan mezcal infused with “the lombriz”; a larva known as a worm.
Those who have the impression that the breast mezcal contains only the essence of the chicken breast, which when raw has been suspended inside an alembic through which the steam produced by the fermented baked agave has passed, know only a part of history. The formulations, more in the nature of the recipes, may call for wild turkey breast (turkey) or whole clean poultry meat, rabbit leg, venison or iguana, or no protein at all, in any case with or without fruit. and / or herbs and spices. integrated in the distillation process.
Pechuga’s first appearance in Santiago Matatlán
“I was about 10 years old, so it must have been around 1930 when a palenquero named Ramón Sánchez took root in the town, apparently from Río Seco, or at least that’s what he told everyone,” remembers Don Isaac. At that time Río Seco would have been days away from Matalán on foot or by mule or horse. It is near the intersection of what are now the districts of Tlacolula, Ejutla and Miahuatlán. Each of the three is known as a agave producing country. And so the residents of Río Seco made mezcal.
“So in 1938, a guy named Chuy Rasgado came to Matatlán,” continued Don Isaac. “One day he appeared at a local farm where I was playing with my bandmates.”
In Oaxaca, as in other parts of Mexico, there has been a long tradition of playing band, wind and percussion instruments, mastery of which begins at an early age. Young Isaac learned to play the alto saxophone and eventually became a member of a band. He and his fellow musicians occasionally played at a well-known hacienda that was owned by a family of Spanish aristocrats.
The day Rasgado went to the hacienda, he had no instrument in hand. But he asked if he could hang out with Isaac and his fellow musicians and contribute in some way. The band rejected the overture as there was no indication at the time how it could help. Eventually, after subsequent failed attempts to integrate into a broader Matatlán, Rasgado disappeared.
One morning Isaac and his mother, Felipa Arrazola, traveled to San Pablo Mitla to buy food. They met Rasgado. Since Isaac had now become an accepted part of the region’s music scene, and the two of them had to stay in Mitla for at least one night due to the distance they had to travel to get there, it was easy for him and his mother find accommodation. . That first night, Isaac and his mother happened upon Rasgado drinking in a canteen and playing music; but not just any music. He was playing bottle; glass bottles of different sizes, shapes and necks, thus giving different shades. He used both his breath and a makeshift drumstick to create different sounds. He played melodies reminiscent of the music of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, near the Pacific coast of Oaxaca.
At the end of the set, Isaac and his mother took the opportunity to speak with Rasgado, Isaac now clearly humiliated by someone who had made it clear to him that he was a true multi-faceted talent whom he and the other members of the band had rejected weeks before. At the time, Isaac was learning to read music. In the course of the conversation with Rasgado, Isaac realized that he was in the company of a true teacher, a musician who played more than just bottles. Isaac recognized that there was an opportunity for him to improve his own musical skills and, at the same time, have someone in town, that is, Matatlán, who could be the tutor of others. Rasgado accepted the invitation to return to Matatlán, and there he began to teach and play, not only bottles, but also guitar, trumpet, saxophone and a couple of other traditional instruments.
Ramón Sánchez, that palenquero supposedly from Río Seco, quickly got to know Chuy Rasgado and the work he was doing within the Matatlán community of musicians. He decided to have a special reception in his honor. During the festivities, Sánchez presented Rasgado with a large bottle of breast mezcal. Others at the event also drank the brisket, many for the first time. Before this time, while Sanchez had shared his brisket with a few, no one really noticed the unique flavor nuance, and if they did, they didn’t ask about it. The cat was out of the bag, and the breast mezcal was born, at least for the wide consumption of the public and in this region. Perhaps most importantly, he had risen to the status of a spirit for special occasions.
No one knows for sure if the people of Río Seco had been making breast mezcal, if Sánchez was the only palenquero with such a recipe, or if he actually prepared it for the first time after his arrival in Matatlán. We do know two things: since that day Rasgado was first awarded the honor of receiving breast mezcal, breast has been served in many towns and villages in Oaxaca at special festivals; and there are several formulations of the drink.
Epilogue to Chuy Rasgado & Ramón Sánchez
In 1940 General Lázaro Cárdenas traveled to Mitla. Although there were still no paved roads in or leading to the town, General Cárdenas nevertheless rode there to inaugurate the arrival of electricity. It would take another 19 years for the power lines to reach Santiago Matatlán.
By then, Rasgado had become a well-known and respected musician in both Matatlán and Mitla (and eventually throughout the state and beyond). The mayor of Mitla invited him to play for General Cárdenas during one of the celebratory dinners. Torn did not dress to act. He played a brief first set. No one applauded. For the second set he was part of a trio, and at its conclusion the group was given some praise. For the third and final set, Rasgado conducted the local philharmonic orchestra in four songs, dressed in formal wear, an outfit traditionally worn by band leaders. General Cárdenas called him to the box where he and the other dignitaries were sitting, to congratulate him. Perhaps the clothing provided the inspiration for an exceptional final performance. Rasgado was known to drink some, so perhaps a slight drunkenness at the end of the night had contributed to his excellence.
Three or four months later Chuy Rasgado disappeared again, this time never to return to the region. It is said that he died in the Mixe district of Oaxaca.
Ramón Sánchez continued to make small batches of mezcal, including brisket, for his own use and to provide to others who might want it for the holidays. None of his descendants became palenquero. During that time there was a general perception that making mezcal was not a dignified profession, much like leading the life of a musician. In the case of Don Isaac, he paid little or no attention to public sentiment and continued to excel in both vocations.
Oaxacan Pechuga Mezcal Today
According to Don Isaac’s son, Enrique Jiménez, a chemical engineer and palenquero in his own right, authentic breast mezcal is produced by placing a specific amount of chopped seasonal fruit in a copper alembic (the only type that young Jiménez still knows how to use ). ) along with previously distilled mezcal (thus in preparation for a third distillation), with a full chicken or turkey breast hanging inside the apparatus. If breast is used, without fruits or other additions, it is naturally considered breast mezcal; And if herbs and / or spices are added, with or without fruit, it’s still considered the real deal. If no protein is used, the spirit is more appropriately considered fruity mezcal. That’s the term used by Manuel Méndez, a palenquero in nearby San Dionsio Ocotepec who inserts five fruits plus sugar cane. On the other hand, in San Baltazar Chichicapam, on the San Dionisio highway, Fortunato Hernández calls his formulation of pineapple mezcal pineapple mezcal. Rodolfo López Sosa in San Juan del Río uses only turkey breast and calls it turkey breast.
At least one owner and exporter of an Oaxacan brand of mezcal instructs his producer (s) to use rabbit leg instead of poultry breast. A palenquero in the state of Michoacán uses chicken breast, venison and a selection of spices, a recipe that his wife jealously guards. One incarnation requires placing 200 liters of mezcal in a traditional 300 liter copper container, part of the alembic, along with 100 liters of chopped fruit, with the chicken or turkey breast hanging inside the top bell of the alembic. This makes about 120 liters of breast mezcal. If the protein is omitted from the formulation, while the spicy and / or fruity flavor will surely prevail, the liquor tends to lack a certain smell created by meat, poultry or others.
A second broad category of breast mezcal requires adding the fruit and / or spice to the alembic during the first or second distillation, along with mezcal and / or tepache (the fermented liquid) and / or bagasse (ground and fermented fiber).
In these two cases, the breast mezcal is clear, since regardless of the ingredients that are introduced into the bottom of the alembic, be it copper or clay, a final distillation occurs that results in a colorless brandy. These are the two variations of brisket that are often highly coveted and, in fact, served in many rite of passage celebrations in typical rural Oaxaca, such as weddings, quinceaneras, baptisms, etc., a tradition that has endured from about 1940, if not earlier.
A third classification of breast mezcal is simply white mezcal (clear, unaged) with a piece of sugar cane or baked agave that is inserted into the bottle before sealing it in a short time changing the color to amber. Another consists of white mezcal that has been infused with fruits and / or herbs and spices, then filtered before being bottled. It is doubtful whether chicken, turkey, or any other meat was used in the distillation process, regardless of rendering. The spirits of this third category are not properly called mezcal de pechuga.
Unanswered historical questions about mezcal de pechuga
The questions that remain unanswered, at least in their entirety, are precisely why, where and when that first palenquero decided to use a chicken or turkey breast in addition to the baked agave to produce his mezcal.