Thousands of Years of Mexican Tradition Go Into La Viuda Negra’s Cocktails - Eater Dallas

"Tucked into a nondescript strip mall space on Fitzhugh Avenue, mezcaleria La Viuda Negra is serving some of the most distinctive new cocktails in Dallas, and they’re steeped in thousands of years in Mexican tradition. Traditionally made with pulque, a spirit made with the fermented sap of agave plants, fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, and sweetener, curados are simple cocktails with an extensive history. The simple preparation, which involves boiling fruit, sugar and water together before mixing it with pulque, lends itself to thousands of different flavors and interpretations. With a sly smile sneaking across his face, Luis Villalva points out that “not everybody knows how to work with pulque.” Considered an ancient predecessor to tequila and mezcal, Mexico’s most recognizable spirits, pulque is made by fermenting the sap of the maguey plant, as opposed to distilling it like tequila. According to the BBC, its presence in Mexico “pre-dates the Spanish by at least 1500 years,” and was used by some indigenous peoples for religious purposes and as a cure for various illnesses. Real, honest-to-God pulque is often described as a vinegary funk-bomb — a gnarly beverage that the uninitiated should stay away from. It’s impossible to (legally) bring what most people would describe as “authentic” pulque into Texas, but a few Mexican companies import a pasteurized, canned version of the drink, which tastes a little bit like wine punched up with a splash of acid. La Viuda Negra uses an imported pulque to make one of the more common libations involving fermented agave, the curado, or cured pulque. Coming together with the pulque, the fruit makes the punch of the booze more palatable while adding probiotics, vitamins, and other nutrients. At La Viuda Negra, Villalva swaps sweetened condensed milk for the traditional sugar or honey, resulting in sweet and frothy curados made with fruits like guava, mamey, and nanche, all common Central American fruits. The bar also uses cacahuates (peanuts) and cajeta (goat’s milk) to make its curados." - H. Drew Blackburn