Pajarete

 

El Pajarete

I was seeing a new patient in the morning yesterday in the clinic. A well built man in his mid 30s who had foot pain and back pain. Narrating the incident that started his back pain he told me it started when he was helping a cousin carry a newborn calf. As we chatted I told him that we have a favorite recipe(kharwas) made out of the colostrum, the milk from a cow immediately after the birth of her calf. He was fascinated to hear that. Within hours of seeing me he called to say that his cousin has 5 gallons of colostrum since one of his cows just delivered a calf that afternoon. He brought me over a gallon by evening. 

When handing me this precious gift he told me an interesting story. He was waiting for his cousin to bring the milk to him but when he realized it was taking too long he decided to himself go to the farm. Turns out the cousin was merrily having a party there with some friends.

 Party at a dairy farm? Yup !! The Mexicans make a concoction from colostrum called pajarete. The name has its origin from the word Pajaro that means bird. One belief is that the reference to bird is owing to the fact that traditionally it’s an early bird drink. Another thought is that the drink boosts energy for a day’s work and thus helps take a flight.

Apparently small gatherings for the pajarete are held all over Mexico in the early mornings. And lately they are becoming popular in Southern California where 30 or so people gather on Sunday mornings in cowboy and cowgirl costumes and enjoy the pajarete in the presence of live music. One needs to be careful however as there have been incidents of methanol poisoning from some of these parties due to mixing in of cheap alcohol.

To make a pajarete take a cup and add sugar, chocolate and coffee to it. Then a shot of liquor derived from palm sugar. Lastly hold that cup under the cow and squeeze to direct the stream of warm milk directly from the udders to cup. My new friend told me that his cousin substituted the coffee and chocolate with Nesquick. You can substitute tequila for the liquor.

Until I can find a cowgirl outfit I will stick to making the traditional Indian dessert from colostrum which is kharwas.