Eight of us were sitting around the table upstairs at La Olla Restaurant on Reforma in Oaxaca City, and Emma orders a Michelada. It’s yummy, she says. She just came down from Mexico City where this is the beverage of choice. Someone asks, What is it? Someone else asks, What’s in it? Tomato juice and dark beer and loads of spices, she says. Four of us, say, Let’s go for it! And, she’s right, IT IS YUMMY. I wrote to Pilar Cabrera, proprietor of La Olla to see if she would share the recipe for the concoction. I haven’t heard back from her yet, so I went on line, hankering for a Michelada and wanting to make one myself. I even ordered it last week at a brew pup near Chapel Hill and they thought I was crazy. No go, they said. We only do beer straight up. So, I discovered several recipes online. Here’s one I adapted based on what I had in my cupboard (minus the Maggi and the Worcestershire sauce). Beats a Bloody Mary any day.
Norma’s Michelada Knock-Off:
Trader Jose (that’s Trader Joe, y’all) Dark Beer (a real steal, authentic Mexican brew, at $5.95 a 6-pack)
Juice of a key lime (or juice of 1/2 conventional lime)
Good shake of Hot Red Pepper Sauce (like Tabasco)
Good shake of Low Sodium Soy Sauce (I used this instead of Worcestershire, quite good)
6 oz. Tomato Juice (or Veggie Juice Cocktail)
Fill 12 oz. glass with 3-4 ice cubes. Shake in the red pepper sauce and soy sauce. Add the fresh squeezed lime juice. Add the tomato juice. Stir. Top off with dark beer. (You’ll use about 1/2 bottle for this recipe — keep makin’ ’em).
Salud!
