Culture Magazine

culturecheesemag.com 41 Madrecuishe mezcal + queso de cabra + sal de café Madrecuishe (also called madrecuixe) is a wild agave ubiquitous to Oaxaca. This mezcal is made by maestro Don Pedro Sánchez in the Oaxacan town of San Luis Amatlán. The madrecuishe is roasted over Huizache wood (the type of wood used for roasting is an important component of this mezcal's flavor) and distilled in copper. The minerality and intense lactic notes in madrecuishe mezcal make it an excellent pairing for f resh goat cheese; the tanginess of the cheese brings out the spirit's subtle sweetness. We added sal de cafe, a coffee- infused salt made by Chebo. The bitterness and salt rounded out the flavor of the pairing for a full and bright bite. Stateside pairing: NETA Mezcal Madrecuixe Capon (available in some states) + Vermont Creamery classic fresh goat cheese or your favorite local fresh goat cheese + espresso to sip on the side. Tobasiche mezcal + Luz de Luna Cardamom Chocolate + queso fresco + sal de rosa Tobasiche is also a wild-harvested agave; It and madrecuishe both belong to the karwinskii family of agaves. The seeds are planted in the wild, and the extra care taken to nurture the plants over an extended period before harvesting makes these mezcals more expensive. The one we tasted was made by maestro Don Juan Garcia in San Luis Amatlán. This was a pairing I did not expect to work. I thought the intensity of cardamom with nothing to soften it would be too powerful, but the heavy herbal and spice notes in the mezcal paired perfectly. I decided to include some flor de rosa to finish up this botanical bomb. It was a great reminder to always experiment with flavors you can't exactly imagine working together. You never know what you might find. Stateside pairing: Cuish Tobasiche Mezcal + Alp Blossom Mexicano mezcal + Chontaleno + Luz de Luna Blanco y Negra Chocolate If a holiday cookie could be reborn as a mezcal it would be Mexicano. With its sweet and spicy flavors reminiscent of cinnamon and nutmeg, this mezcal, also produced by Don Juan Garcia, is one of my favorites. We paired it with Chontaleno Ahumado (a smoked cheese similar to and inspired by smoked provolone) and blanca y negra chocolate (dark chocolate with vanilla added). The combo should appeal to any sweet tooth, but the smoke and residual bitterness of the chocolate, combined with the mezcal's bite, makes it work for the savory lover as well. This pairing made me feel like I was cuddled up in a warm blanket on a winter day. Stateside pairing: Agave Mexicano has not yet found a foothold in US markets. I recommend Chacolo Mezcal Brocha, a mezcal from Jalisco that is cooked in mesquite, giving it an incredibly sweet, almost barbecue-sauce flavor. Pair it with Shelburne Farms Smoked 6-Month Cheddar or any good smoked provolone and a 70 percent or higher dark chocolate. Tepextate mezcal + chapulines + cocoa fruit Tepextate or tepeztate might be my favorite agave variety; It's briny and has a bright verdant flavor. This tepextate mezcal was made by maestros Guillermo and Bulmaro Sánchez, the sons of Don Pedro Sánchez, and is a prime example of how knowledge of artisanal mezcal production—like artisanal cheese production—is often passed down from generation to generation. While most Oaxacan mezcals tend to have sweeter flavors, tepextate mezcal has intense vegetal flavors with a hint of salinity—it has a freshness that reminds me of cucumbers and seaweed. (If I were sucking down oysters on a sunny day in some cold coastal region, I would hope that in my other hand I'd be holding a glass of tepextate.) Imagine if chocolate and melon had a perfect baby and that's cocoa fruit—a common snack in the area of Oaxaca closer to the ocean. The sour-salty spice of the chapulines and the fresh, slightly tart, melon-like flavor of the cocoa fruit brings out all the cucumber notes in the mezcal. This was perhaps my favorite pairing of the day. Stateside pairing: Rey Campero Tepextate + Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill + fresh melon Cuish mezcal + quesillo + chai chocolate This Cuish mezcal (as its name implies, the agave variety is very closely related to madrecuishe), was made by maestro Nicolas Garcia Gutierrez in San Luis Amatlán. I started each of these pairings with mezcal, but it would be wrong of me to finish with anything other than quesillo. I grew up with queso Oaxaca; I loved pulling the stringy cheese apart after school when I was a kid. I think, as a cheesemonger, I am expected to love fancy or sought-after cheeses, but this simple, and often overlooked, farmer's cheese is something I could enjoy every day. This is why I had to pair quesillo with Cuish—a smaller Karwinskii- family agave that often goes unnoticed in favor of madrecuishe or bicuish—a botanically rich and delicious mezcal that deserves attention. We finished this pairing with an unsweetened chai flavored chocolate to round out our day. Stateside pairing: Cuish Cuish Mezcal Joven + Queso Campesino Oaxaca Mini + Madhu Chocolate Masala Chai 60 Percent Cacao Pairings

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