Agua de Alfalfa

Ciudad de México, the highland markets of the Valle de México, that is where this agua lives. You see it in vitroleros at La Merced, Jamaica, and the small neighborhood mercados where the señora behind the counter knows which drinks move when the afternoon gets hot.

Alfalfa is the point. Not spinach, not mint, not some bottled green powder. Fresh alfalfa gives the drink its grassy color and its clean market smell. Pineapple gives body and sweetness. Lime cuts through it. This is not a health-club green juice. It is an agua fresca, made to refresh people who are walking, working, carrying bags, feeding children, and stretching pesos until dinner.

My mother did not write this one in her Jalisco notebook, but she bought it for me in La Merced when I was small, always with extra lime because she said green drinks need discipline. She was right. Too much sugar and you lose the alfalfa. Too little lime and it tastes tired. Balance is the work. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.