Atole (, believed to come from Nahuatl Aztec cuisine or from Mayan),
Mayan origin
Many Classic Maya painted vessels feature a genre of inscriptions known as the "dedicatory formula" or the "primary standard sequence" (PSS) and the two main ingredients mentioned in the contents section of the PSS were cacao and atole.
Regional variations
Mexico
In Mexico, the drink typically includes
masa (corn
hominy flour), water,
piloncillo (unrefined cane sugar), cinnamon, vanilla, and optional chocolate or fruit. The mixture is blended and heated before serving.
Atole is made by toasting
masa on a
comal (griddle), then adding water that was boiled with cinnamon sticks.
Central America
In Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua,
atol de elote (maize
atol), or simply
atole, is a common beverage. Pineapple
atol (
atol de piña) is also consumed in El Salvador. Guatemalan varieties include
atol shuco ("dirty"
atol, a reference to its darker color), consumed particularly often in the city.
[ Fiestas Cabañas , Guanaquín (in Spanish; includes recipe). Retrieved 2008-03-30.]
Guatemala
In
Guatemala, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provided funding to INCAP to carry out a community randomized trial to test the hypothesis that improved protein intakes lead to better child development test scores.
They were given a high-protein atole-like beverage made from INCAPARINA (a vegetable protein mixture developed by INCAP which mainly contains corn), dry skim milk, sugar, and a flavoring agent.
New Mexico
In
New Mexico,
blue corn atole is finely ground cornmeal toasted for cooking, consumed as a grainy
porridge-style drink served warm, usually sweetened with sugar or thinned with milk. It is usually served at breakfast like Cream of Wheat or
oatmeal. Elders are said to have drunk
atole because it gave them energy. A mother who is nursing will drink
atole to give her more milk.
The Puebloan peoples of New Mexico sometimes call atole chaquehue or chaquewa.
The Ancestral Puebloans began to cultivate corn around 2000 BCE, and used advanced irrigation ditches as early as 205 CE. Later, during the time of Spanish colonialization, blue corn was irrigated by Moorish-influenced acequia systems. The Hopi plant blue corn seeds in bundles of several seeds to one hole, sometimes quite deep to reach ground water.
Atole porridge is called mush by the Navajo, and includes the addition of juniper ash. It is called wataca by the Hopi. Atole flour is used to create Hopi Piki.
Cultural references
The beverage is referenced in the
Spanish language idiom dar atole con el dedo ("to give
atole with the thumb"), which means to placate with deception. It may originate from the idea of
using
atole on their thumbs to placate infants; alternatively, it may refer to the practice of distributing tamales and
atole during periods of drought in pre-Columbian Mexico.
See also
