Tequila, margaritas, salsa, and food dyes

·1 hr·5 clips

How did Jose Cuervo build a tequila empire while facing death threats from Pancho Villa?

Good Food host Evan Kleiman welcomes journalist Ted Genovese to discuss his book Tequila Wars, which chronicles the Cuervo family's century-long struggle to build an agave empire in the Jalisco tequila valley while navigating violence, political intrigue, and international competition. Genovese explains that the Cuervo family were the original lords of the tequila valley for over a century before Jose Cuervo himself was born, with a young Cenobio Sauza simultaneously learning the trade on a neighbouring estate and building what would become the second great dynasty of the industry. The two families established the industry's enduring rivalry across the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book's opening period is marked by political violence including death threats from Pancho Villa during the Mexican Revolution and the US government labelling Cuervo a public enemy as it tried to restrict Mexican spirits. A central logistical challenge of the era was getting product northward: the Mexican railroad network in the 19th century was far behind the US, and both families spent significant energy lobbying the government for north-running rail lines. The 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis marks a pivotal moment, when Jose Cuervo took the new railroad to debut his product before American consumers for the first time. Genovese discusses how the tequila being produced in 1904 would have been in transition from in-ground oven production — which imparts the smoke associated with mezcal — toward the cleaner style we recognise today. The episode is rich with historical detail and will interest food history enthusiasts, spirits lovers, and anyone interested in Mexico-US trade and cultural exchange.

As heard by us

Tequila history and inventive salsa talk make for a brisk conversation about taste, family ambition, and power.

Ted Genovese is at his best when he follows Jose Cuervo from a struggling family business into an agave kingdom, keeping the Cuervo and Sousa families rooted in the tequila valley while the story broadens to death threats from Pancho Villa and public-enemy status in the United…

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Why you'd press play

Play this if you want tequila history with a sharp food-radio detour.

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