General Information about Item:
- Genre: Material Lore – traditional dish; Customary Lore – family tradition, celebration
- Language: Spanish
- Country of Origin: Mexico
- Informant: O.O.
- Date Collected: November 7, 2020
Informant Data:
- O.O. is a ~40 year old man living in New Jersey. He was born in Puebla, Mexico and has spent a little over 20 years in the United States, where he lives with his wife and two children. In the US, his family usually celebrates Christmas by attending or, in some cases, hosting family gatherings, preparing food, and partaking in some religious traditions.
Contextual Data:
- Cultural Context: Also known as “Ponche Navideño,” the beverage is very important in Christmas traditions. It is high in vitamins due to the variety of fruits included. Due to its involvement in celebratory events, especially Christmas, one of its ingredients, tejocote became the most seized fruit from smuggling attempts.
- Social Context: It is usually drunk as soon as it is finished boiling but can also be reheated or drunk cold. It is the source of many, MANY, burns on the tongue and the roof of the mouth. It is usually drunk by chewing on the sweet sugar cane, redipping it in the juice, chewing again, and then setting aside the piece of cane to grabbing another, repeating the process all over again.
Item:
- The process begins by half filling and heating a pot with water. You then wash sugarcane and chop it into 10-14cm cylindrical pieces. Then, cut those cylinders into quarter cylinders. Afterwards, you add the sugar cane, unrefined whole cane sugar, and cinnamon after the water begins to boil. You then wash the tejocote and separately put it to boil until it is soft. Once it’s ready, you peel away the skin and add it to the main pot. Once the sugarcane softens, you add apple slices, guava, and prunes. As soon as those soften, the beverage is served in 1-2 styrofoam cups with a bit of everything in it. Optionally, you can also add a whiff of liquor.
Translation:
C.Y. (collector): Thanks so much for the recipe, I really wanted it for myself as well. Is there any sort of traditional background to the punch?
O.O. (informant): With my family there was. One of our traditions involves raising a little baby Jesus figure, singing, and rocking it during the songs. Later, we go outside and light tiny spark fireworks and raise them up to celebrate the birth of Jesus. To protect from the cold, we try to time the punch so that it is ready as soon as we wrap things up so that the vitamins and heat of the drink prevent us from catching a cold or anything.
C.Y.: Oh wow, so from what I’ve heard so far, a lot of meals revolve around keeping healthy.
O.O.: Yea it’s like with that stereotype about Mexicans always eating beans. It’s not far from the truth, but beans are a large part of what keep us strong and healthy even while working very labor intensive jobs here in the US.
Collector’s Comments:
- It is one of my most favorite drinks. Sadly, since many stores don’t sell sugarcane until December for Christmas, it is very hard to make outside of the Christmas month. This makes it a true Christmas exclusive for my family, unlike other meals which we on occasion make throughout the year.
Collector’s Name: Carlos Yepes