Guarapo Tabasqueño de Caña Fermentada

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •3-quart clay jarro, glass jar, or food-safe ceramic pitcher
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Clean cotton cloth and string

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the vessel

   Wash a 3-quart clay jarro, glass jar, or food-safe ceramic pitcher with hot soapy water and rinse well. Fermentation is work, not neglect. A clean vessel gives the good yeasts room to do their job. A dirty one gives you bitterness, mold, and a drink for the sink.

2. 2

   Toast the maize

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Add the rinsed and drained corn and toast for 10 to 12 minutes, shaking often, until the kernels smell nutty and show golden spots. They should not blacken. The toasted maize gives the guarapo body and a low roasted flavor that belongs to the Tabasco version. Without it, you have sweet cane water that got tired.

3. 3

   Dissolve the piloncillo

   Pour 1 cup of the sugarcane juice into a small saucepan. Add the chopped piloncillo, Mexican cinnamon, orange peel, and salt. Warm over low heat, stirring, until the piloncillo dissolves, about 5 minutes. Do not boil the cane juice hard. You want the piloncillo to melt, not cook the life out of the drink.

4. 4

   Combine the base

   Pour the remaining sugarcane juice into the clean vessel. Add the warm piloncillo mixture, including the cinnamon and orange peel, then stir in the toasted maize. If using mature guarapo, tepache, or unpasteurized cane vinegar as a starter, add it now. It is a helper, not a shortcut. The drink will ferment without it, but a starter gives a cleaner path.

5. 5

   Cover and ferment

   Cover the mouth of the vessel with clean cotton cloth and secure it with string or a rubber band. Leave it at cool room temperature, away from direct sun, for 24 to 48 hours. Stir with a clean spoon once or twice a day. You are looking for a light fizz, a cane aroma turning sharp at the edges, and a gentle tang. If you see fuzzy mold, throw it away. No argument.

6. 6

   Taste and strain

   Start tasting at 24 hours. In the heat of Villahermosa, this can move fast. In a cooler kitchen, it may need the full 48 hours. When the guarapo tastes sweet, tart, and lightly fermented, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean pitcher. Discard the maize, cinnamon, and orange peel.

7. 7

   Chill and serve

   Refrigerate until very cold, at least 4 hours. Serve over ice in clay jarritos or thick glasses. Drink it the same day or the next. It will keep fermenting, even cold, and the acidity will grow sharper. This is a living drink. Treat it that way.

Chef Tips

• •Fresh sugarcane juice is the recipe. Look for it at a Latin market, a juice stand that presses cane, or an Asian or Caribbean market with fresh cane service. Bottled pasteurized cane juice can ferment poorly because the living yeasts are gone.
• •If you cannot get fresh sugarcane juice, press peeled sugarcane stalks through a sturdy juicer. If that is impossible, use water with piloncillo and a splash of unpasteurized cane vinegar, but understand the compromise. You are making a cousin, not the same drink.
• •Do not seal the jar tight during the first fermentation. Gas needs somewhere to go. Cloth keeps insects out and lets the drink breathe.
• •A sharp sour smell is normal. Rotten, moldy, or chemical smells are not. When in doubt, throw it out. A few pesos of cane are cheaper than a sick stomach.
• •This is lightly fermented and can become mildly alcoholic. Serve it to adults unless you stop it early at the barely tangy stage.

Advance Preparation

• •Start the guarapo 1 to 2 days before serving. In a hot kitchen it may be ready in 24 hours; in a cooler kitchen it may need 48.
• •Once strained, refrigerate immediately and drink within 2 days. Open the pitcher carefully if it has been covered tightly because pressure can build.
• •Save 1/4 cup of finished guarapo as a starter for the next batch if it tastes clean and bright.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 250g)