Ponche

Last year I wrote a blog post on Tejocote. I was intrigued with the mention that the fruit is used to make punch (ponche in Spanish), so I decided this year I would try making some for the holidays.

It turns out that the fruit and the punch is a significant part of the Christmas tradition in Mexico, and that the tejocote I bought a year ago was probably contraband: You can find out much more here http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf/gf091212punch_party_tejocote in a recent episode of KCRW’s Good Food.

Well thankfully I didn’t have to break the law to make my ponche. One of my local grocery stores conveniently sells all of the key ingredients already assembled in a jar (insert picture).


I’m sure the quality isn’t as good as home made from fresh ingredients, but for my first time, I don’t mind taking a few shortcuts.

The main ingredients of Ponche are simple and probably easily available in central Mexico:
tejocote
guavas
sugar cane
cinnamon
alcohol

Of course variations are common and welcome. I added some clove, brandy, and tequila to mine. It’s good stuff.

I’ve had the pleasure of drinking mulled wine, Gluhwein, or Glogg at the holidays, the hot spiced wine which is traditional in various forms throughout northern Europe. On the first sip of my Ponche I recognized it’s really a close cousin of mulled wine, just a variation on the same theme really. It makes sense that different cultures would simply work with whatever is locally available. And if you listen to that Good Food episode, it seems that the whole idea originated in India (maybe a future blog post on that…!)

Happy Holidays! Cheers!