LCBO Food & Drink Early Summer 2018

glossary Tequila is made by cutting the spiky leaves or pencas off the agave plant core—called a cabeza (head) or piña (for its resemblance to a pineapple)— that can weigh 50 kilograms or more. It’s cooked and crushed, traditionally by a stone wheel called a tahona . Then the liquid is fermented, sometimes with leftover agave fibres known as the bagazo . The fermented agave mosto is then distilled into tequila.    The origins and Spanish-language meanings of the names of some well-known brands (below) reveal the history and pro- cess behind tequila, some of which has been produced in Mexico by traditional casas for hundreds of years.

PHOTO BY ESDELVAL/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Sauza: Surname of Don Cenobio Sauza, who founded an early tequila distillery in the 19th century, and is known as the Father of Tequila.

Tromba: Name of the regional rainstorms that water the highlands of Jalisco.

Los Arango: Doroteo Arango was the real name of Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa.

Hornitos: Steam ovens, traditionally made from earth or lava mounds, for cooking agave.

Jose Cuervo: José Antonio de Cuervo y Valdés received the first official license from King Fernand VI to produce tequila, in 1795.

Cazadores: Spanish for “hunters”; the stag logo on this distillery’s label repre­ sents deer that traditionally roamed the agave fields of the casa.

Don Julio: Don Julio González-Frausto Estrada was a 20th-century tequila maker who started, as a teen­ ager, to perfect some modern artisanal techniques.

El Jimador: A farm worker who harvests agave plants.

84  FOOD & DRI NK EARLY SUMMER 2018