Agua de Xoconostle del Bajio

Queretaro, in the Bajio, is where this agua belongs. The xoconostle grows on nopal in dry country, the kind of semi-arid land that teaches cooks not to waste anything. In the mercados of Queretaro and San Juan del Rio, you see the fruits piled in baskets, pale green outside, pink and sharp inside.

This is not lemonade with cactus fruit thrown in. Xoconostle has its own acidity, more stern than sweet tuna, with a clean bite that makes sense in the heat of the altiplano. You peel it, seed it, blend it with water, and sweeten it with piloncillo just enough to let the fruit speak. Too much sugar kills the point. No me vengas con atajos.

I learned this version from a woman near the Mercado La Cruz who sold nopales, tunas, and xoconostles from the same stall. She told me to keep the drink tart because that is what wakes the body when the afternoon is dry and dusty. She was right. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and the Bajio knows its cactus fruit.