The last time I was in Mexico I was going slower than usual through the market. With both Ruth Alegria and my pal Yunuen at my side, I asked about everything I saw that I didn't know.
A bag of grey dust looked intriguing.
It turns out to be Tequesquite.
Unless I misunderstood, it's dried lake scum from Lake Texcoco. Chemically, it's similar to bicarbonate of soda. For centuries, it's been used to soften old beans and as a leavening for tamales.
I've used a very small amount in my beans and I can't seem to tell anything much one way or the other. I have heard of people putting baking soda into their beans to soften them but I have to confess this sounds very unappealling. Somehow in my mind, dried lake scum makes more culinary sense.
I think most people would nod their heads and mention how darn interesting that was but I of course thought about how much I could bring back into the states and then my mind raced even further and I wondered about importing it to sell on the Rancho Gordo website. Let's just say I'm working on it!
Dried lake scum? Um, no thanks, Steve. I’ll just soak ’em.
I have eaten beans that were cokked more quickly by the addition of baking soda and the taste was awful (it did speed the cooking time, though.
Veranda
As an interesting cultural aside, there is a watercourse named Tequisquita Slough in central California south of Gilroy (near Hwy 152). The slough empties into San Felipe Lake/Soap Lake, where seasonally dry lake fringes produced valuable tequisquita for Mexican settlers in the early 1800s. Your random California trivia for the day!
Oh, Wow!, Steve, what a great thing to look forward to. Pond scum…… However, if you say it’s ok, gotta believe you. Judie
I’ve got bigger fish to fry than imported pond scum, but it is interesting.
I used it again last night. I think I used less than a pinch. Who knows?
Thanks for the trivia Eric. I love the Californio era!
tequetsquite, it works i´ve used it on many plates, it also works for veggteables you but some of this dust and the vegg get greener. Im sutding gastronomi in mexico and i have this class comida prehispanica and we use it alot. but you need to be carefull how you use this dust.
Hey Armando Dude you know where I can buy Tequesquite here in the U.S.A? I live in California, I need Tequesquite to make Carnitas, Tequesquite is the most important ingredient to make Carnitas. I have been trying to look for some but not even the Mexican grocery stores sell it, please somebody tell me where I can buy some.