¡Hola! I just want to take some time to thank all of my new readers that are now following the blog thanks to the NPR feature. Welcome to the familia, I truly appreciate the support/comments/and e-mails!
A few weeks ago, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes reached out to me to see if I could create a signature cocktail for the opening of their new exhibition, ¡Mírame! Expressions of Queer Latinx Art and it was such a great experience–and so fitting! The exhibition featured 12 artists from the Latinx LGBTQ community, where they explore their Latinidad, gender and sexuality and the difficulties of trying to fit into two worlds which can be unaccepting. I definitely recommend the exhibition if you live in the LA area, the exhibition runs through December 9th!
For the exhibition, I pitched a bunch of fun cocktails and they chose the Tepache Mezcal Margarita. I wasn’t expecting for them to go that route because in my experience, Tepache can be hit or miss with people because it shares similarities with Kombucha. The crowd seemed to be split in half between people who had no idea what Tepache was and people who loved it. It was a really good opportunity for me to share some knowledge and introduce people to such an iconic drink with pre-columbian roots, and it was also a great experience connecting with those who loved it and were reminded of their visits to Mexico. They instantly lit up. I’m currently reworking the recipe for the Tepache Mezcal Margarita, so keep your eyes peeled for that next month.
I decided to make this strawberry hibiscus margarita inspired by Billy because I’ve lost track of how many times he’s mentioned strawberries and hibiscus in the same sentence this past month. It became an ear worm (one of those songs that gets stuck in your head that you can’t get out until you actually listen to the song/make the margarita) so here we are enjoying this delicious margarita on the first day of summer!
If you’re also currently experiencing a heat wave (it was 102 degrees en mi rancho yesterday), take some time to cool off, and enjoy a margarita!
Happy Summer Solstice!
Cancun has beautiful blue beaches and good food, but it is a very tourist heavy location and it lacked the feeling of being in Mexico. We decided to stay en el centro to get a more authentic experience while we were there but we never found quite what we were looking for. We did however, find amazing tacos al pastor. They were completely different than the ones I was used to. The pork was sweeter, and the taqueros really played up the pineapple, cinnamon, and the achiote notes which was different than the heavier guajillo flavor bomb I was used to.
