Who would want to drink wine with worms in it? The Chinese and the Mexicans.
Chinese
In a Chinese store in Chinatown in Singapore I saw giant bottles of alcohol contained pickled worms. Yuk. It quite put me off purchasing a c h e o n g sam. (Spell check wants to select the similar and more usual word, it thinks, chewing.) Chewing on a worm?
Mexican Mescal
A member of my family is taking an exam organised by WSET for wines and spirits. Revision for the theory and tasting entailed buying and tasting small quantities of various sprits including Mexican Mescal. Even the tiny size contains a tiny worm.
We had a debate in which I was assured, "It is not a real worm. Not the sort that live underground. It's the l a r v a e of a moth."
I was not reassured. As far as I'm concerned, if it looks like a worm (to parody the famous saying about a duck from Hitchhiker's Guide ..) it is a worm.
After the tasting the worm was disposed of.
So I do not have a photo. Just as well. My more squeamish readers might be put off. However, if you want to see or buy Mescal, look for it in Mexico or from a website such as Drinksupermarket.co.uk
In London before Xmas the big stores in Central London such as Harrods and Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason often stock novelty foods as gifts, sometimes in sets of two or three, sometimes as individual items, such as chocolate covered this and that. If you want to make up a set of foods or drinks for a friend who likes that sort of thing, or for amusement, or for friends from China or Mexico who might be familiar with these drinks and regard them not as a novelty but as a treat, here is an idea for your Xmas list.
Not all Mezcal contains the worm. So be sure to order it with, or, if you prefer, without.
If you like it, go to Mexico during the recently introduced festival in July.
"Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, también." ("For every ill, Mezcal, and for every good as well.").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezcal
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author.
Chinese
In a Chinese store in Chinatown in Singapore I saw giant bottles of alcohol contained pickled worms. Yuk. It quite put me off purchasing a c h e o n g sam. (Spell check wants to select the similar and more usual word, it thinks, chewing.) Chewing on a worm?
Mexican Mescal
A member of my family is taking an exam organised by WSET for wines and spirits. Revision for the theory and tasting entailed buying and tasting small quantities of various sprits including Mexican Mescal. Even the tiny size contains a tiny worm.
We had a debate in which I was assured, "It is not a real worm. Not the sort that live underground. It's the l a r v a e of a moth."
I was not reassured. As far as I'm concerned, if it looks like a worm (to parody the famous saying about a duck from Hitchhiker's Guide ..) it is a worm.
After the tasting the worm was disposed of.
So I do not have a photo. Just as well. My more squeamish readers might be put off. However, if you want to see or buy Mescal, look for it in Mexico or from a website such as Drinksupermarket.co.uk
In London before Xmas the big stores in Central London such as Harrods and Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason often stock novelty foods as gifts, sometimes in sets of two or three, sometimes as individual items, such as chocolate covered this and that. If you want to make up a set of foods or drinks for a friend who likes that sort of thing, or for amusement, or for friends from China or Mexico who might be familiar with these drinks and regard them not as a novelty but as a treat, here is an idea for your Xmas list.
Not all Mezcal contains the worm. So be sure to order it with, or, if you prefer, without.
If you like it, go to Mexico during the recently introduced festival in July.
"Para todo mal, mezcal, y para todo bien, también." ("For every ill, Mezcal, and for every good as well.").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mezcal
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author.
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