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.
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
Diné, and includes the addition of
juniper ash. It is called
wataca by the
Hopi. Atole flour is used to create Hopi
piki bread. ==Cultural references==