• Succulents

Mescal

• Derivative: Mezcal, Alcohol

Mescal, or Agave parryi, is a succulent plant native to the arid lands of the American Southwest and northern Mexico, long valued in Indigenous cultures as a staple food and ceremonial plant. Its heart is traditionally roasted, while its fermented sap or pulp can be used to produce spirits such as mezcal. Chiricahua Apache tradition preserves a method of baking mescal without digging a pit: heated stones are scattered across level ground, the crowns are laid over them, and the heap is covered with fresh grass and earth. North of the Guadalupe Mountains, archaeologists have identified true Apache mescal pits — round, about seven feet across and three to four feet deep — where fires were kindled, hot stones added, and layers of agave leaves piled two to three feet deep. According to ethnographer J Walter Fewkes, the combined heat above and below roasted the mescal hearts for 24 to 36 hours, producing a food "somewhat like candied sweet potatoes. - AsNotedIn

Places

• Guadalupe Mountains
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park Texas