Special Request Tuesday

This weekend, my friend (and our resident scientist) GoalieGirl asked me a very pressing question: why do you put salt on the margarita glass or lick salt when you drink a shot of tequila? Not wanting to let down my faithful readers, I assured her I would do some research and find the answer for her.

I learned that both alcohol and tobacco use in American can be traced back to the Mayan civilization.  Pulque, which comes from the Mayan words "octili poliqhui" is derived from the fermentation of sap from the maguay cactus, a direct ancestor of tequila.  Alcohol was used by the Mayans for the wide-spread practice of divination.  This use has taken a less serious turn in modern day America, in that praying to one's god is usually reserved for the hangover after drinking alcohol.  Ritual use of alcohol is still seen today - it's a part of weddings, communions, birthdays, and college activities.  Though alcohol consumption today is recreational by nature, the rituals involved with the consumption of tequila are rooted in Mayan tradition.  Mineral salts, collected from lakes and ponds, were eaten and then chased by the pulque.  This is similar to the act of licking salt before taking a shot of tequila. 

This habit was passed down through generations, and according to the informed ones there was a reason for it. When tequila production began in the 1800's, the process to obtain the liquor from the sugars of agave made it extremely strong in alcohol content, and for that reason it tasted very strong when putting it in the mouth. To make it more "abocado" (palatable), two additional ingredients were used: salt and lemon. Indeed, when they placed the tiny amount of salt inside the mouth, this produced more salivation which served to diminish the strong impact of the drink. When the drink was passing down the throat, they sucked up a lime, so the citrus juice made the throat feel better.

Back in the 30's, there was a terrible epidemic of influenza in the north of Mexico, and this was worst in the state of Nuevo Leon and Monterrey. Thanks to a doctor in Monterrey who had the healthy habit of drinking tequila with lime and salt before lunch, he seemingly resisted the attack of the epidemic, and he attributed it to his habit of drinking tequila. He prescribed to his patients this medicine, and as a resultthere was a quick decrease of the sickness in his community.  With the flu vaccine shortage this fall, maybe we'd all better invest in a bottle.