Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila is a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mexico. The 35,019-hectare site is part of an expansive landscape of blue agave, shaped by the culture of the plant used since the 16th century to produce the spirit known as tequila and for at least two millennia to make fermented drinks (such as pulque) and cloth. Within the landscape are working distilleries reflecting the growth in the consumption of tequila in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, this agave culture is seen as part
Agave was a major food source for the prehistoric indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. The Hohokam of southern Arizona cultivated large areas of agave. The Navajo similarly found many uses for the agave plant. A beverage is squeezed from the baked fibers, and the heads can be baked or boiled, pounded into flat sheets, sun dried, and stored for future use. The baked, dried heads are also boiled and made into an edible paste, eaten whole, or made into soup. The leaves are eaten boiled, and the young, tender flowering stalks and shoots are roasted and eaten as well.