By Julie Etra

Atole is a prehispanic corn-based beverage consumed throughout Mesoamerica and South America, albeit in different forms and with varying ingredients. The word atole is derived from the náhuatl word atolli , which means “watered down” or watery, due to its root of “atl” = water. It is synonymous with atol as it is also called in Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela.

The Purépecha, indigenous people of the northwestern Mexican state of Michoacan, call it kamata. In Mayan it is known as sa’, in Costa Rica it is called chicheme and champurrado in Peru and Argentina. Its basic ingredient is milled corn or corn flour. In prehispanic times it was likely prepared with water, and perhaps honey, but with the conquering Spaniards came sugar, added as a sweetener. Of moderate viscosity from cornstarch, atole was historically prepared as hot as possible.

Ingredients
Other contemporary additions to the basic beverage include milk, honey, piloncillo (see below) cinnamon, vanilla and other sweeteners, such as fruit juice or fruit pulp. There are dozens of ‘recipes’ with additional ingredients as variable in flavor and texture as chiles, epazote, blackberry, plum, mango, coconut, walnut, and cheese. In Colombia eggs are added.

Piloncillo
As an interesting aside, Mexico produces a type of sugar called piloncillo. With its origins in Asia, sugar cane crossed the Mediterranean, landing in the Iberian Peninsula, and from there brought from Spain to the Island of Hispaniola, (modern day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), by Christopher Columbus; sugar mills and refineries were operating on Hispaniola by 1516.

Piloncillo is commonly found in the produce section. It is brown, cone-shaped unprocessed raw sugarcane. The canes are crushed, the juice extracted and boiled to create a thick syrup which is then poured into molds where it hardens. Currently (and historically), the largest producer of piloncillo in Mexico is San Luis Potosí where it was originally cultivated by the Spaniards, although the states of Veracruz, Quintana Roo, Nayarit, Jalisco, Hidalgo and Colima are also producers.

Pinole
Atole should not be confused with pinole although they rhyme. Pinole is a grain mixture, made predominantly of heirloom blue and purple maize that’s roasted with raw cacao beans, then ground into a fine mixture (yes, cacao is native to Mexico). It’s most commonly combined with milk to form a thick, warm porridge. In addition to cacao it is mixed with a combination of cinnamon, chia seeds, vanilla, or other spices, to make a beverage called pinolillo.

Champurrado
In Mexico, Champurrado is atole with chocolate, although masa (the same dough used for tortillas) is used instead of harina.

Chilate, Arroz, and Horchata
Atole should not be confused with another beverage, chilate, from Costa Chica, Guerrero. This beverage is prepared with cocoa, rice, cinnamon, and sugar, and is served cold. It is not to be confused with chilate in Central American countries such as Guatemala, where its base is corn. Rice, a component of this and other beverages like horchata, arrived after the Spanish conquest. Rice, of Asian origin, arrived in Mexico via the port of Acapulco, Guerrero, shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in 1565 by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi (Spain ruled the Philippines for over 333 years). Approximately forty years later Spanish ships known as the Manila Galleons brought rice to Mexico from the Philippines. Remember, dear readers, the fall of Mexico occurred in 1521.

Mexico does grow some of its own rice for domestic consumption, but the majority is imported from the United States. The popular beverage horchata comes from North Africa which was brought to the Iberian Peninsula with the Moorish conquest of Spain in the eighth century.

Pox
Pox (pronounced “posh”), comes from the Mayan people of the Chiapas Highlands. It is a distilled, but weakly alcoholic beverage whose ingredients include water, sugar cane, corn, piloncillo and wheat bran, as well as a variety of herbs, such as mint, lemon grass, rosemary, and bay leaf, or the pulp of seasonal fruits. It is known for its silky consistency.

In addition to previously mentioned ingredients, anise, orange blossoms, orange leaves, and pineapple can be added to the basic recipe.

Here is a popular recipe for Atole de Piña:

Ingredients
·5 oz masa
11 oz pineapple pulp
·2 cups cubed pineapple

Preparation
·Stir the masa in 4 cups of water. Let stand for 15 minutes, then strain the water and set it aside. In a blender puree the pineapple in 1 ½ cups of water. Strain and set the pineapple water aside.

In a saucepan combine the strained masa water and the pineapple water and set over medium heat. Boil, stirring constantly for 15 minutes or until thickened.
Remove from heat, add the pineapple cubes, and stir for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

What about those pineapples? Not imported by the Spaniards, pineapples most likely originated in the wild in the Paraná–Paraguay River drainages between southern Brazil and Paraguay and are thought to have been domesticated over 6,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence of pineapple use dates back to 1200–800 BCE in Peru and 200 BCE – 700 CE in Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayans and the Mexica (Aztecs) By the late 1400s, pineapples were a staple food of indigenous populations throughout Mesoamerica.

Atole in Religious Ritual.
Atole is considered indispensable in many religious events and Catholic ceremonies, including baptisms, first communion, wakes, patron saint celebrations, and posadas (see EYE archives December 2014 for a good description of a posada:
https://theeyehuatulco.com/2014/12/01/christmas-in-mexico-city-how-to-celebrate-it-like-a-chilango). In many indigenous communities it is an offering in prayer for a good corn harvest or one of thanks following a good one. Of course, corn, a staple and essential component of Mexican diets, has been worshiped for thousands of years, and atole is its liquid manifestation (see EYE archives for multiple articles on corn).

Today, the types of flavors that accompany atole are varied and regional, but it remains an original Mexican concoction.