Today was my first day of Spanish classes. It is a small group; there are only five of us, including Flor, our maestra (teacher). Flor is a hilarious taskmaster. When the chicos (young men in our class, about twenty-four years old) are trying to get answers from us, she calls them tramposos (cheaters). I envy her frankness.
During the lesson on participles and gerunds, she used an example with the beverage tejate (not Tecate). She gave us the tarea (homework) of going to one of the big markets (Viente de Noviembre, November 20th is one market) to try it. Only in Oaxaca would homework be to hit the streets in search of a drink and information about it.
According to the people I asked, tejate is a water-based drink made from corn and cacao. The top of the drink has foam (espuma) like a latte, but thicker due to the fat from the cacao.
It sort of tasted like a weak hot chocolate (but it was cold) with oatmeal and extra sugar in it. I wouldn’t exactly recommend it.
My homework was easy to complete because for the first day of cooking class we went to the market to sample: bread (pan), chocolate, cheese (quesillo), grasshoppers (chapulines), mezcal, and tejate. Take a look at this handmade (and I mean literally with her hands) drink.
shewhodaresnothing 