sal de gusano. The phrase means “worm salt,” but it’s really caterpillar salt—with, yes, actual critters roasted & ground up along with chiles. Before pounding each shot, we wet our fingers, dipped them into the bag, & licked—to get an excellently bracing sensation of earthy, spicy seasoning, no more, no less. It’s also popular to […] MEZCAL is the name given to any beverage obtained by distillation of fermented juices from an agave plant. Depending on the region, it has been given different names. In Sonora it is called Bacanora (agave potatorum o yaquiana); in Yucatán, Xtabentun; in Michoacán its name is Charanda (it can be identified by a sugar cane […] The legend tells us that there once was a cold and sober, and very generous goddess. Her body was like the trunk of the agave, but instead of leaves she had 40,000 breasts. From her breasts flowed the elixir drunk by those that venerated her; she was Mayatl, Zapotec goddess of mezcal. Cold and untouchable, […] Maguey or Agave americana is a native plant from Mexico, and it is now cultivated in many parts of the world. This plant, also known as the century plant or American aloe, is neither an aloe nor a cactus, as it is sometimes erroneously believed, but instead is a member of the Agavaceae family. Maguey […] William H. Prescott wrote in 1843: But the miracle of nature was the great Mexican aloe, or maguey, whose clustering pyramids of flowers, towering above their dark coronals of leaves, were seen sprinkled over many a broad acre of the table-land. As we have already noticed its bruised leaves afforded a paste from which […] The truth about the legend of the worm is still debated. However, as Mezcal becomes more and more popular, scientists and Chemists are finding some validity in some of the legends about the worm. Seems the worm isn’t just a Gringo marketing tool but that it actually changes the drinks chemistry. The claim that it […]sal de gusano
Names of Mezcal by Region
The Mezcal Legend
Maguey, Agave Americana, Century Plant, American Aloe
The Many Uses of Agave
Rethink the Worm