Pineapple Recipes

Tepache (Mexican Fermented Pineapple Drink with Piloncillo and Cinnamon)

Tepache is a traditional Mexican fermented pineapple drink built on pineapple rinds, piloncillo (unrefined Mexican cane sugar), Mexican cinnamon, and cloves. Wild yeast living on the pineapple peel does the work over 48 to 72 hours, producing a mildly sweet, lightly tangy, naturally carbonated drink with about 1 to 3 percent alcohol. Origins go back at least 500 years to pre-Columbian Mexico, where the drink was first made from corn (the name comes from Nahuatl 'tepatti', meaning corn drink); today every street vendor in Oaxaca and Mexico City sells it in big glass jars with ice. Active work is 20 minutes, fermentation handles the rest. Makes 2 liters, 8 servings of about 250 ml each.