Why Mezcal And Cheese Make A Perfect Pairing
Neta Tepextate Mezcal with a young manchego
Photo, courtesy Julia Gross
Mezcal is the fastest-growing category of agave spirits. It presents diverse aroma and taste profiles, from sweet and fruity to earthy, pungent, and even medicinal. It also lends itself to a wide variety of food pairings. Recently, I sat down with Julia Gross to discuss mezcal and how it pairs with Mexico’s native cheeses.
Julia Gross describes herself as “a rogue cheese monger and mezcal educator” based out of “somewhere in the US or Mexico,” depending on the season. Her obsession with cheese, travel, and everything related has taken her worldwide – from alleyways in Thailand to underground hot springs in Guatemala.
Julia is an awarded expert at pairing mezcal with Mexico’s native cheeses. Her classes focus on history, anthropology, mysticism, and their relationship to what and how we eat and drink. Currently, she is working on a photo series of mezcal producers in Oaxaca and exploring wine and cheese country in Queretaro, Mexico.
JM: Mezcal presents an expansive aroma and taste profile, from the sweet and fruity mezcals of the Oaxaca coast to the herbal and earthy mezcals of the highlands. Then there are the pechugas, which can be even more varied. On top of all that, you have a variety of production techniques ranging from industrial to artisanal and ancestral.
Moreover, even though most mezcals are made from Agave Espadin, more than a dozen varieties of agave can be used. Given this incredible diversity, how do you approach mezcal-cheese pairings?
JG: I think this is one of the things that makes mezcal so fun to pair. With so many different types of agaves, all being harvested, fermented, and distilled in ways particular to the region and often the family producing that mezcal, the complexity and differences in flavors are endless.
Most of the mezcals I work with are also wild fermented. That means the local flora directly affects the flavor of the mezcal. Wild yeast…
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