Mossysauce: February 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Chile - Pisco

I can remember drinking pisco pretty much since I could handle little sips from my parents' glasses. My first real alcohol experience was, naturally, with pisco. But the other night, my mother introduced me to a whole new mix, one I had never tried before.

When I arrived at my parent's home a little after midnight on a Sunday, I imagined I'd find my folks fast asleep. Ha. Not mama. Her wine from dinner (I'm guessing) had had the opposite affect on her and she was wide awake and ready for a night-cap. She pulled out her stash of Alto del Carmen Pisco (da best, apparently) and proceeded to methodically pour pisco - a shot and a half worth - into each tiny glass.

"Marcé, find me the guindas!" Mama lovingly shouted.

"Huh?" Me.

"Ugh, da sherries, Marcé!"

"Oh, the cherries... got it, Mama."

Mama, like a little school girl, couldn't stop grinning to herself. She poured the maraschino cherry juice into the pisco drinks and topped them off with a little cherry garnish.

We proceeded to drinks these for hours. We laughed, we even cried a little, but then we laughed some more. After we had played rearrange the furniture and tested out a few of her new table cloths (just to see how they would look), Mama was loving life and so was I.

By the end, Mama couldn't stop exclaiming,

"This is how Chileans duurink! You'll sleep well tonight, mijita."

And, as always, she was right.