This April MAYA’s El Flaco and Miguelito returned to the homeland – that is, of course, Mexico – purportedly for “research purposes”, in reality for tamales, tacos and a hell of a tequila-fused bash.
MAYA和MAYITA的El Flaco和Miguelito将此场墨西哥旅行称之为“研究目的”的，为了探索特码利，塔克和龙舌兰酒。
First stop: La Ciudad de México
第一站：墨西哥香格里拉点德城
The Mission of Peace flew us straight to Mexico City – it also happened to be the same plane that brought the Pope to Mexico a while back. He rode business class, but we enjoyed gratis tequila in coach.
和平的使命带我们直接飞到墨西哥城，这也正是之前教皇来墨西哥乘坐的同一班飞机，他乘坐商务舱，但我们更享受在沙发上品尝龙舌兰酒。
Our host Juan Carlos (that’s the guapo man behind one of the 30 beers we drank that night) took us straight from the airport to the famous hundred year old Cafe Tacuba, where he taught us the sophisticated way to eat a taco: fold the end over like a wrap, hold it delicately in your fingers, and keep your pinky finger up so everyone knows how classy you are.
Juan Carlos（图中这位隐藏在我们当晚喝了30种不同的啤酒之一之后的帅哥）招待我们直接从机场来到了著名的百年历史的咖啡厅Tacuba，在那里，他教给我们复杂的方式吃塔可：把塔可的尾部褶皱像包包裹一样，精致的用手指拿着它，并保持你的小拇指，这样大家就知道你有多么会吃。
This Mexican take on the doner kebab is called tacos al pastor. The mass of marinated meat starts cooking in the morning and the vendors serve it up at lunch. If only they could make it last ’til happy hour…
这位墨西哥人采取的是所谓的tacos al pastor. 腌过的肉从早上开始贩卖直到午餐。如果可以的话，可以把他们持续到欢乐时光…
China might produce the world’s most corn but Mexico invented the stuff – 64 varieties to be exact. These babies are drying out, getting ready to fulfill their tortilla destinies.
中国可能是世界上最会生产玉米的国家，但是墨西哥发明了各种不同的东西，要精确的话有64种品种。这些宝贝被晒干，准备履行自己成为玉米饼的命运。
Trendy neighborhood La Condesa might remind you of downtown Shanghai – much of its colonial past is still preserved in its art deco architecture. It’s also full of these beautiful purple jacaranda trees, an botanical import from Brazil.
时尚街区内拉孔德萨可能会让你想起上海市中心-其中大部分殖民地还保持着它的艺术装饰建筑。路边全都是美丽的紫色兰花楹树，一种来自巴西进口的植物。
We ate these maguey worm tacos, plus some ant egg sopes and grasshopper tostadas for dinner. (Don’t freak out – they were delicious but they won’t be on the MAYA menu any time soon!)
我们尝试了这些龙舌兰虫塔可，加上一些蚂蚁蛋特色玉米脆饼和蚱蜢玉米饼。（不用害怕！他们都很美味但是近期不会出现在MAYA的菜单上！）
Don Antonio Ortego, owner of Mezcal distillery Indocumentado took us to Escollo, a bar where the “who’s who” of mezcalero high society gather to discuss the finer subtleties of top shelf bottles. Just kidding. They come here to get DRUNK!
Don Antonio Ortego，梅斯卡尔酒酒厂老板带我们去了Escollo,，酒吧里上流社会聚集在一起讨论架子顶部瓶的细微精妙之处。开玩笑啦,他们去那里只是为了喝醉！
El Flaco learned the hard way that public urination is illegal in Mexico City. He even got to see what the inside of these policía cars look like! Don’t worry, the police were too lazy to fill out the paperwork and let El Flaco go home with his perfect record intact.
El Flaco在墨西哥吃一堑长一智，在墨西哥公共场所排尿是非法的。他甚至在见识到了policía车内部结构是什么样子的！不用担心，警察们也懒得填写书面工作，让El Flaco与他完整完美的记录回家。
The dark side of mezcal nights – mezcal mornings. Thankfully Miguelito saved El Flaco from his hangover with some pain killers, Pedialyte and a greasy meaty sandwich.
梅斯卡尔夜的黑暗一面-梅斯卡尔早晨。值得庆幸的是Miguelito给El Flaco一些止痛药使他从宿醉中清醒过来，倍迪力和油腻的肉三明治。
We soaked up some culture at Frida Kahlo’s once home, now museum. Way before Alexander McQueen was showing on runways, this revolutionary Mexican artist was wearing these amazing designs at parties with the likes of her Marxist husband Diego Rivera, her lovers Josephine Baker and Leon Trotsky and generally being a badass artist, feminist and history-maker all over the Americas.
我们在佛里达卡罗曾经的家吸取了一些文化，现在是博物馆。远在Alexander McQueen再T台上展现，这位革命性的墨西哥艺术家穿着这些惊人的设计出席派对和她的马克思主义的丈夫迭戈·里维拉，她的情人约瑟芬·贝克和托洛茨基，通常都是坏蛋艺术家，女权主义者和历史制造者遍布美洲。
Also at Kahlo’s home-come-museum, her work desk preserved as she once used it – even the very same mirror she used to produce her famous unapologetically unibrowed self portraits.
此外，在卡罗的家中博物馆，她的办公桌保留下来。因为曾经她使用过它-即使她用来制作她著名的自画像的镜子。
We call these cacti “prickly pears” in English, but in Mexico they’re called nopales, and no, it doesn’t hurt to eat cacti. It’s delicious AND healthy – this “superfood” is currently being researched for its ability to control blood sugar levels in diabetics.
在英文中这些叫做仙人掌，但在墨西哥，被称为nopales，吃仙人掌并不会伤害人。它很美味和健康-这个“超级食物”目前正在研究控制糖尿病患者血糖水平的能力。
If it’s named Miguelito, it must be good, right? This sweet condiment is the perfect topping for dessert, fruits or the rim of your next margarita glass.
如果它被命名Miguelito，一定非常美味吧，是吧？这道甜蜜的调味品是搭配甜品，水果和玛格丽塔杯子边的最好搭配。
Remember how much you paid last time you bought avocados in Shanghai? We bought them for one tenth of the price here in Mexico City. We’ll stuff as many as we can fit in our suitcases!
还记得上次你在上海为买牛油果花了多少钱吗？而我们在墨西哥只需要花10分之1的价格就可以买到。我们将把牛油果尽最大可能装进我们的旅行箱的空隙中！
Sex sells! Chicken, in this case. Anyone up for a juicy breast or thigh?
性感销售！鸡肉，看到这番景象，有没有人想要享受一块多汁的鸡胸肉或大腿肉？
MAYA may have a tequila trolley but this restaurant in Mexico City has a mezcal trolley. What do you think, should we make one for MAYA, too?
MAYA有一辆龙舌兰酒小推车，然而这家在墨西哥的餐厅竟然有梅斯卡尔小推车。你们认为MAYA也需要做一辆吗？
No, sadly, MAYA Shanghai is not expanding to Mexico City (yet). But we did visit this incredible museum of anthropology to learn about our namesake civilization, the Mayans.
遗憾的是，我们还没有扩展到墨西哥城。但我们也参观了人类学这个令人难以置信的博物馆，了解我们的同名文化，玛雅人。
This isn’t an ad for Olmeca tequila – this is Miguelito posing with an ancient Olmeca stone statue. Olmecans and Mayans were closely associated civilizations, but they’re only two of the many, many societies that were making Mexico amazing long before the Europeans arrived.
这不是奥美卡龙舌兰酒的广告-者是Miguelito和奥美卡古代石像的合照。奥尔梅克人与玛雅人密切相关的文明，但同名在欧洲人抵达很久很久之前就把墨西哥创造成一座惊人的社会。
This was one of our favorite meals, and the mix of the modern industrial chic decor with vintage pieces inside gave it a trendy but authentic feel. Stop by La Docena for a dozen or two oysters next time you’re in Mexico City!
这是我们在墨西哥最喜欢的一顿晚餐之一，与老式现代工业装饰别致的搭配给了它一种时髦但真实的感觉。下次如果来到墨西哥，记得在La Docena停留！
Second Stop: Tequila Country…
What happens when you unleash El Flaco and Miguelito of MAYA and MAYITA into tequila country without any adult supervision?
当El Flaco和Miguelito去到龙舌兰故乡但没有任何成人监督，会发生什么？
Mexican MADNESS
疯狂墨西哥
Our super hot pilot expertly (wo)manned the flight from Mexico City to Guadalajara
我们超级性感的飞行员熟练地载人从墨西哥城抵达瓜达拉哈拉
El Flaco hadn’t been to the gym in 20 years, but he had to sweat out the extra alcohol somehow. Now looking forward to another 20 years of inactivity!
El Flaco已经20年没有去过健身房，但他不得不把多余的酒精以某种方式出汗掉。现在期待再过20年的闲置！
Simply but aptly titled “La Tequila” in Guadalajara boasts a drinking list of 700 different tequila bottles – but their endless shelves display a staggering 3000 different types of tequila. If only we had several more livers to burn through…
简单但恰当的名字“La Tequila”，在瓜达拉哈拉拥有700种不同的龙舌兰酒–但是他们无限的货架展示了惊人的3000种不同类型的龙舌兰酒，如果我们有几个肝脏可以燃烧….
It’s no joke – Tequila is a real town located 60 km outside of Guadalajara. Obviously we headed straight there. For research purposes, naturally.
这可不是闹着玩的–龙舌兰是一座位于瓜达拉哈拉之后60公里一个真正的小镇。我们直奔那里，当然是出于研究目的。
The town of tequila is mostly low-rise buildings against gently rolling hills in the distance. A sleepy little town – tequila has a way of encouraging afternoon naps.
龙舌兰镇大多数是低矮建筑面对着连绵起伏的群山。一个沉寂的小镇–龙舌兰酒是一种鼓励午睡的方式。
Tourists to Tequila can hop aboard the Barrel Bus to get a taste for the town and its most famous export at the same time!
游客可以跳上桶状公交车感受这座小镇和同一时间领略其最著名的出口！
Here Miguelito slashes agave – the plant that births tequila – under the watchful eye of expert jimador (Mexican farmers who cultivate agave), 73 year-old Don Quirino
这是Miguelito猛击龙舌兰植物–即产有龙舌兰酒工厂，在专家希梅纳 73岁的唐·基里诺（墨西哥农民耕种龙舌兰）
These agave are slashed and ready for the next stage of tequila production – into the clay ovens!
这些龙舌兰被猛击，并预备成为龙舌兰酒生产的下一个阶段–放入粘土烤箱！
Casa Noble 100% blue agave tequila creates its award-winning flavors with artisanal attention to detail. Their tequila is aged in 4 different kinds of barrels: French oak, bourbon barrels, New American oak and Chilean oak.
Casa Noble 100%蓝龙舌兰酒以及其注重细节的味道创造其屡获殊荣。他们的龙舌兰放置于4种不同的桶：法国橡木桶，波旁桶，新美国橡木和智利橡木。
AND Carlos Santana is an owner…so you know it’s good
卡洛斯桑塔纳是老板…
We tested our tequila expertise with these aromas de tequila, sampling and trying to identify different delicious infusions (like eucalyptus, mint and citrus).
我们测试了我们对龙舌兰酒的专业知识和这些香味龙舌兰酒，采样和试图找出不同的美味浸剂（如桉树，薄荷和柑橘）。
Sampling the local flavors is hard work! Here El Flaco puts his 1 day at the gym to good use to help out his pal Miguelito.
品尝当地的风味是非常难的！如下图所示，El Flaco把他一天的健身房活动用来帮助他的朋友Miguelito.
Mayahuel is the Mexican goddess of the maguey (agave), worshipped since the time of the Aztecs not only for the intoxicating powers of the maguey plant she births (notice that belly), but also for her associated powers of fertility.
Mayahuel是墨西哥龙舌兰女神，阿兹特克人对她的崇拜，不仅因为她可以生产龙舌兰（注意她的腹部），也是因为她与生育的相关的权利。
Agave plants are exciting not just because it means more tequila for us to drink – they’re also striking for their deep blue-green hues.
龙舌兰植物令人兴奋的不只是因为它意味着我们可以有更多的龙舌兰酒可以享受–也因为他们的深蓝绿色色调引人注目。
We met the owners of Fogata Tequila along with their pal, fellow restaurateur Carlos, who responded to everything we did by saying, “Es corecto.” Carlos endorses our excessive eating and drinking!
我们遇到了Fogata龙舌兰酒的老板和他们的朋友，餐饮同胞卡洛斯，他回复我们说的任何一切以”Es corecto.” 。卡洛斯同样赞同我们的吃喝无度！
1.2 liter bottles of Sol beer sound like a good idea – until you realize you can’t possibly finish the whole bottle before it gets warm in the Mexican sun.
1.2升的苏尔啤酒听起来像是个好主意–知道你意识到你不可能在墨西哥烈日下喝完一整瓶。
Warm beer: No es corecto…
温暖的啤酒，这是不对的….
When we arrived in Puebla, one of Mexico’s most famous cities for eating, this guy was serving up these delicious tacos al pastor at a local feria (carnival) celebration for Cinco de Mayo.
当我们抵达普埃布拉，是一座墨西哥最有名的吃的城市，这位老兄在当地博览会（狂欢会）为庆祝五月五日节活动提供了美味的塔可。
At the feria, El Flaco found El Gordo – and had to pay him for a picture together. (We bargained him down from 200 pesos to 20 pesos.) Do we sense a sitcom in the works? Or at least a buddy cop film? Still waiting to hear back from El Gordo…
El flaco找到了El Gordo, 不得不支付他与他一起拍照留念。（我们从200比索讨价到20比索）。我们是否感受到情景喜剧？或者至少警察电影？仍然在等El Gordo回来告诉我们…
We found this mother daughter duo outside of Puebla in a town called Tlaxcala, where they were preparing traditional indigenous dishes (note the corn, seeds and nopales) at a local food festival.
我们在离开普埃布拉之后，在一个叫做特拉斯卡拉小镇看到了这对母女在当地的美食节一起准备传统土著菜肴。
This is only one small glimpse of the massive murals painted in Tlaxcala’s government palace by local artist Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin over the course of 50 years. It’s no wonder it took him so long – the entire mural covers a total of 500 square meters and spans the whole course of the town’s history, from pre-Columbian to modern times.
这是唯一一个由当地艺术家Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin 超过50年历程画卡拉政府宫。难怪会花他这么长时间-整个壁画面积共500平方，横跨这座镇的历史全过程，从前哥伦布时期到近代。
You can’t leave Puebla without a taste of their world famous mole poblano – often called Mexico’s national dish. It’s made with about 20 ingredients, including chilies and chocolate. Here we enjoyed it with rice, beans, chicken and fried plantains.
在没有尝试他们世界闻名的摩尔波拉布诺辣椒被称为墨西哥国菜的味道你不能离开普埃布拉。它大约有20种成分，包括辣椒和巧克力。在这我们喜欢用米饭，大豆，肌肉和炒蕉一起烹饪。
On to Mezcal Territory…
In Oaxaca in southwestern Mexico, the locals say, “Para todo mal, mezcal, para todo bien, también.” (“For everything bad, mezcal; for everything good, too.”)
在墨西哥的瓦哈卡州西南部，当地人都说“任何坏事情都可以用梅斯卡尔酒解决，对于任何好的事情，同样也是梅斯卡尔酒。”
MAYA & MAYITA’s intrepid explorers El Flaco and Miguelito set out to test this theory for themselves…
MAYA和MAYITA勇敢的探险者El Flaco和Miguelito为自己着手验证这一理论…
On the road from Puebla to Oaxaca, we snapped this photo in Zapotitlán Salinas at the famous Cactus Valley, where cacti grow to heights of 15 feet (over 4.5 meters)! Impressive – but we continued on in search of plants that make mezcal instead.
从普埃布拉州到瓦哈卡的路途中，我们在萨波蒂特兰萨利纳斯的著名的仙人掌骨拍下了这张照片，仙人掌长到15英尺（超过450米）的高度！令人印象深刻！但是我们继续在寻找制造梅斯卡尔酒的植物。
When you’re in cactus country, you find cactus everywhere – even on your plate. We sampled this cactus and avocado atop crispy tostadas on the road to Oaxaca.
当你在仙人掌之国的时候，你会发现到处都是仙人掌，即使在你的盘子上。我们在通往瓦哈卡的路上，发现了这道香脆的仙人掌和鳄梨的玉米饼。
Oaxaca (pronounced wuh – ha – ke) is home to 18 indigenous Mexican peoples who retain their native cultures and languages. It’s a place full of history dating back thousands of years – a history you can explore with just a short walk down one of Oaxaca’s pedestrian streets…
瓦哈卡（发音为 wo – ha – ke）是保留了18个墨西哥土著民族及其本土文化和语言的地方。这是一个保留完整历史的地方，可以追溯到几千年前。你可以漫步在瓦哈卡的街道探索历史…
…or eating the local foods! This carne asada at Oaxaca’s 20th of November Market was cooking up in mid-April – but the market is named November 20 in honor of the date of the Mexican Revolution. When you’re eating good food, every day is a holiday.
或者吃当地美食！这道碳烤牛小排是在5月中旬的十一月市场，但市场被命名为十一月二十日是因为墨西哥革命日的荣誉。当你吃到好吃的，每天都是节日。
This craft market outside of Oaxaca sold beautiful fabrics. Perfect souvenirs for some, but we had to leave all the extra room in our suitcases for as many bottles of mezcal as possible!
在瓦哈卡州以外的这种工艺品市场销售精美的面料。完美的纪念品，但是我们不得不给我们的行李箱流出额外的空间以存放尽可能多的梅斯卡尔酒！
Back in downtown Oaxaca, it was time to get down to business. This guy in the middle, Carlos, had the very tough job of drinking with us all night long at Oaxaca’s best mezcaleritas. A true martyr for the mezcal cause.
回到瓦哈卡市中心，是时候谈论正事了。在我们中间的这位名叫Carlos,在瓦哈卡最佳梅斯卡尔酒吧陪我们喝了一晚上。一个真正的梅斯卡尔烈士。
If anyone knows mezcal, it’s this man: Don Tacho. He shared some tlayudas (a traditional Oaxacan dish) with Miguelito while imparting the wisdom accumulated from a lifetime of cultivating and producing some of the world’s best mezcal.
如果有人知道梅斯卡尔酒，就是这个人：Don Tacho，他与Miguelito分享了一些tlayudas （一种传统的瓦哈卡菜），传授培育和生产一些世界上最好的梅斯卡尔酒的一生积累的智慧。
Mezcal can be made from about 30 different types of agave found in Oaxaca. We posed with two – qiushe and espadin. About 90% of all mezcal is made from espadin agave, but all 30 varieties are pretty damn tasty.
梅斯卡尔酒可以由30种不同种类的龙舌兰制成。我们提出了2个-qiushe和espadin。约90%的梅斯卡尔酒是从espadin龙舌兰制成，但是这30个品种都相当好吃！！
Mezcal is known and loved for its distinctive smokey flavor, which it gets after being roasted in earthen pits, traditionally for 3 to 4 days. Don Tacho was kind enough to let us pose for a picture in his mezcal pit – even if he thought we were crazy gringos for sitting in there.
梅斯卡尔被熟知和被喜爱是由于它独特的烟熏味，它在土窖烧制传统上3至4天。Don很友善的让我们在他的梅斯卡尔酒坑照了一张图片 – 即使他以为我们是为坐在那里疯狂的外国佬。
Don Tacho knows how to host a guest. He sent us on our way with a bottle of Real Matlatl – from the original town of mezcal – bellies full and heads abuzz with mezcal.
Don知道如何招待客人。在我们离别之际送给我们一瓶真正的Matlatl，从梅斯卡尔镇来的。从脑袋到肚子都充斥着梅斯卡尔。
As any good academic will tell you, a large sample size is required to run any experiment. We take our research very seriously, so we sampled over 80 different mezcal varieties, like Don Tacho’s, El Jolgorio and Real Minero. For science!
正如任何良好的学术会告诉你，运行任何实验需要量样品。我们非常重视我们的研究，因此我们取样超过80个不同品种的梅斯卡尔酒，就像Don，El Jolgorio和Real Minero一样。为了科学！
Heavy mezcal drinking requires a full stomach – so we indulged at Casa Oaxaca, which proved to be our favorite meal of the whole trip. This chili relleno with ceviche served cold with mango and passion fruit seeds blew our minds. Plus, servers approached each table to present fresh salsa ingredients, allowing diners to choose their favorites and watch their personalized salsa created for them on the spot!
大量梅斯卡尔酒需要一个完整的胃-所以我们沉迷在卡萨瓦哈卡，事实证明这是我们整个行程最喜爱的一顿。这道香炸辣椒卷配冰冻芒果和热情果种子让我们难忘。另外，服务生向每个桌子呈现新鲜莎莎食材，让食客可以选择自己的最爱，看着他们当场创造个性化莎莎！
Mezcal is an ideal liquor for sipping and savoring. At mezcal producer El Jolgorio, Miguelito sampled a few bottles while pondering the nature of the universe. (Mezcal will have that effect on a person.) Then we drove on to…
梅斯卡尔是理性化品尝的酒。梅斯卡尔酒的制造商El Jolgorio，Miguelito一边品尝几瓶酒一边琢磨宇宙的性质。（梅斯卡尔会对一个人的影响），然后我们开车到…
Monte Albán! This now-archaelogical site was once the very first great city in Mesoamerica, founded in about 500 BC. It being 2016 AD, we were a little late to the party, but we had a lovely time strolling through, anyway.
阿尔班！这考古站曾是中美洲的第一大城，建于约公元前500年。现在是2016年，我们有点迟到了，但我们通过散步有个可爱的时间卷轴。
This agave plant in Monte Albán was covered in the names of lovers who had visited the site. El Flaco’s lady was back home in Shanghai but he left his name, anyway.
这珠在阿尔班山上的龙舌兰植物是以以前参观过这座城市的爱人的名字命名。El Flaco的夫人回到了上海但留下了她的名字。
Heading back to Mexico City, there was just enough time to catch a Cruz Azul football match, where fans enjoy the time-honored sporting tradition of cheering on your favorite team almost as much as you trash-talk your opponents!
然后回到了墨西哥城，只是有足够的时间来赶上Cruz Azul公司的足球比赛，球迷们在那里享受几乎一样多的乐趣，你和你的对手互讲脏话，这是帮你最喜欢的球队加油助威的历史悠久的体育传统！
While El Flaco caught the football, Miguel caught up with his sister to spend some quality musical family time writing and performing their own original songs.
当El Flaco在看足球的时候，Miguel和他的姐姐在一起表演，写作他们自己的原创歌曲。
With our holiday drawing to an end, Veronica, former member of the MAYA family, graciously hosted us for a family dinner. We brought what any good house guest should – marijuana-infused mezcal. (Yes it’s a real thing – we’re not just blowing smoke!)
随着我们节日画上了一个句号，Veronica,前MAYA员工，慷慨主持了我们的家庭聚会。我们带来了任何好的客人应该带的，大麻 注入梅斯卡尔。（是的，这是一个真实存在的，我们不只是空谈！）
Holidays are fun, but we had to bring our mezcal and tequila back to you good people of Shanghai. Time to recover back home!
假期都是愉快的，但我们必须把我们的梅斯卡尔和龙舌兰酒带回给在上海你们善良的人。是时候回家了！
Until next time, Mexico…adios from MAYA!
