The mystery of Pirates of the Caribbean, the toughness of Hemingway, the romance of Che Guevara, and of course, the feelings of Jay Chou. There are many labels for mojito, but what does this thing actually taste like?
No:1One
Cubans believe that the origin of Mojito can be traced back to "mojo", a traditional seasoning in the Caribbean. According to Chinese standards, "mojo" is actually a marinade that gives the meat an unparalleled smoky flavor and fresh sourness when making grilled steak, chicken, and fish. "Mojo" has many ingredients, including oil, garlic, coriander, pepper, salt, etc., but the most essential is fresh lime. This citrus fruit native to East Asia is not suitable for eating alone. Compared with lemon , which has a sharper sour taste. But when paired with meat, it can remove the fishy smell and relieve greasiness. Yes, as a cocktail, the base color of Mojito is also sharp acidity: the acidity comes from the limes that are widely available in Cuba, and the sharp taste is composed of fresh mint leaves and cheap distilled shochu.
In the mid-19th century, Spanish colonists imitated the taste of Cuba's native "mojo", prepared this little sweet water with a distinctive character, and named it with an intriguing Spanish word "mojadito". "mojadito", Chinese translation is - "moist". Obviously, Mojito was originally an ambiguous name, which is quite similar to the Cantonese word "salty and wet". A refreshing drink that is sweet and sour, it will definitely be popular with girls, but it contains spirits and the alcohol content is not low. The drinks were passed down one after another, back and forth, and when the drink reached its climax, it naturally became indescribable. Considering the romantic character of Spanish people, especially the sexual openness of Hispanics, it is not difficult to imagine how popular the mojito would be when it was first invented.
Hemingway, who has lived in Cuba for 20 years, is a loyal fan of mojitos. "My mojitos are in Bodeguita (a famous restaurant in Havana)" has almost become his mantra. But what is not known to most people is that Hemingway had four wives and countless lovers in his life. He once wrote a colorful poem "To Martha Gellhorn's Vagina" for his third wife. And when he went to bed with all the women after that, he recited this poem to each other. One can imagine the significance of mojito to Hemingway.
No: 22
The translation of "Mojito" is also problematic. In fact, Jay Chou has already sung it in his new song, and it should be "Mojito". Because the "J" sound in Spanish is equivalent to the "H" sound in English, the British spelling of Mojito is Mohito. For this reason, when mojito first entered Chinese bars, some people translated it as "don't drink too much". It hides the meaning of telling girls to drink less and not to be fooled by scumbags. It also expresses the obscure and conservative attitude of Chinese people towards sex in that era. It is really both honest and elegant. But strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with calling it "Mojito", because the earliest mistranslation actually came from the British. In the birth of Mojito, the British played as much a role as the Spanish. people. After Columbus discovered Cuba in 1493, he not only brought Spanish colonists but also sugar cane roots. Compared with the high latitudes and dry environment in Europe where sugar cane is almost impossible to grow, Cuba's hot and humid climate is simply a paradise for sugar cane. In the following hundreds of years, a large number of sugar cane estates were opened in Cuba. Ripe sugar cane was harvested, squeezed for juice, refined into sugar, and sent back to Europe, where it inspired the European pastry, coffee, and tea drinking cultures. To this day, Cuban sugar is still the largest local export material, as famous as cigars.
But there is a huge difference between European sugar making technology and Chinese sugar making: the pursuit of purity. Therefore, the Chinese will boil the cane pulp repeatedly, and finally dry out the water and become a solid block. This is what we call handmade ancient brown sugar; while the white people will use physical means to precipitate the sucrose crystals after the cane pulp is concentrated to obtain "Pure" sugar. The advantage of granulated sugar is that it is sweeter, but it wastes the remaining sugar and amino acids in the sugar cane juice. The Spanish called this bitter slurry "molasses" and it was usually used as feed and also as food for the black slaves in the sugar cane gardens in order to "use waste". But this slurry, which is rich in amino acids, is difficult to preserve for a long time in the hot Caribbean. Before the black slaves could finish eating, they discovered that the molasses had fermented and turned sour. But after drinking it, I got the same excitement and pleasure as drinking.
Yes, fermentation of molasses, similar to fruits and grains, can produce alcohol. Although the taste is not comparable to wine and rice wine, it is a great enjoyment for the black slaves to be able to drink wine in a harsh environment. For a long time, molasses wine was a treat for black slaves to spice up their lives. In the sixteenth century, Britain defeated the Spanish Armada and obtained the colony of Cuba. Unlike the nervous Spaniards, the rigorous British quickly discovered the private enjoyment of the black slaves. They did something similar to molasses distilling wine into whiskey, distilling a new spirit—later, it became known as rum.
The newly distilled rum has a dull and sharp taste and is not pleasant to drink. The brewing masters have come up with two ways to deal with it: one is to put it into oak barrels and age it like whiskey to obtain The aroma of acorns, because the color turns from clear to darker after adulthood, people call it "golden rum"; secondly, it imitates the taste of molasses before distillation, adding fresh sugar cane juice to the rum, and seasoning it with lime and mint The color color and the clear green appearance distinguish it from the messy drinks that black slaves drank. It looks like a "civilized people's drink". This is the mojito.
No: 33
With its novel taste and beautiful appearance, Mojito soon "counterattacked" Europe from the New World. Under the baptism of Europe's diverse civilizations, many different versions appeared. . People call these "unauthentic" mojitos "Mojito pestato", which means "European version" or "wrong version".
The French, who know how to eat, use sweet liqueur instead of strong rum, reducing the amount of sugar and alcohol content; because Europe lacks limes, they use hybrids of oranges and grapefruits. Substitute orange and pomelo, which reduces the acidity. This French-style mojito has friendly and gentle characteristics, and is a particularly popular after-dinner dessert wine. The Italians use basil leaves produced along the coast of Liguria instead of lime, add a lot of ice, and drink it in a clay pot. This is a typical example of Italian cuisine that is both extensive and delicious.
With the changes of the times, there are more and more such modified mojitos. The base liquor includes tequila, champagne, and Campari, and the fruits include pomegranate, raspberry, passion fruit and even coconut. . Some good people have made statistics and found that there are more than 300 kinds. After the invention of carbonated drinks, adding soda water to mojitos became standard. The unique excitement of sparkling drinks complements the sharpness given by mint and lime. Some people even abandon alcoholic drinks and only use soda water, Sprite or Ginger ale is used to prepare the so-called "alcohol-free mojito" to satisfy the tastes of more people.
The most interesting thing is that drinking alcohol is not allowed in North African countries due to religious beliefs. In order to drink mojitos, locals add a large amount of tea leaves to water to brew tea juice with a high concentration of caffeine to imitate the surging "high" feeling of alcohol. They add sugar and mint leaves to make it a unique national drink. In order to better imitate the color of a real mojito and highlight the bright green color of mint, North African countries abandoned the black tea that is widely popular in the West and switched to green tea - Morocco, Tunisia and other countries, thus becoming the highest demand for Chinese green tea , the trading country with the largest export volume, and this green tea mojito is known as the "national drink" by the locals. -END-500 years ago, the black slaves who drank fermented molasses water in the Cuban sugar cane manor did not expect that their unintentional planting of flowers would go through historical fermentation and become a drink that is popular around the world; it even originated in another part of the earth. The Chinese green tea on one end also has an interesting expression. On this earth that is getting closer and closer, no food is an island, and no one can live alone. Mojito belongs to Cuba, and of course, to the world.