JIM CONRAD'S NATURALIST NEWSLETTER Issued from Hacienda Komchén de Los Pájaros just outside Dzemul, Yucatán, Mexico January 9, 2005
ATOLE & PINOLE On my first trip into Mexico back in the late 60s I hitchhiked all the way from Kentucky down to the Guatemala border and all through the Yucatan Peninsula, visiting archeological ruins. It wasn't until my second trip that I learned that Mexican buses were so cheap that even I could afford them. On that first hitching trip Mexican truck drivers often picked me up, and it was through them that I learned about atole (ah-TOH-leh) and pinole (pee-NOH-leh). Many times we'd be riding along and the driver would pull to the side of the road, pull out a bag of dusty, sandy-looking stuff, pour it into his cup, add water, stir, and he'd drink it. That was atole he was drinking, sometimes pinole. Atole can be made many ways. Traditionally it's finely ground corn added to water to form an emulsion, with or without sweetener. The corn can be fresh corn ground into a paste that's then dissolved in water, or it can be hard, mature corn grains finely ground into cornmeal, similarly dissolved in water. If you're lucky your atole will be sweetened and a dash of cinnamon or vanilla will be added. I've also seen people pulverize oatmeal in a blender, then add sweetener and spices, and call it atole. Pinole is basically the same thing, except that the corn has been toasted. In backcountry Chihuahua I've seen people saving their old corn tortillas, roasting them, then grounding them into powder for making pinole. This is also very good. Both atole and pinole are drunk both cold and hot. Atole and pinole are such simple, homey-tasting creations that few in our generation with taste buds tuned to industrial-strength processed foods will find them very interesting. However, if you're a believer that it's a good idea to know how to survive on simple, very cheap fare -- or if you're just sick to death of too-rich stuff -- keeping atole and pinole in mind may be a good idea. Here I buy very cheap, very finely ground cornmeal at the market, and often when I'm hungry but don't want to take the time to prepare anything properly, I just pour some cornmeal into my cup, add water, stir, and it's not bad, especially with a banana. US cornmeal is so coarsely ground than it doesn't form the smooth emulsion of a good atole. Also, if cornmeal has baking soda in it, it'll be bitter. If you want to try atole, really pulverize some baking-soda-less cornmeal or oatmeal in a blender, lightly sweeten the resulting dust, add a dash of cinnamon or vanilla, and then figure out whether you prefer it with hot or cold water. http://www.backyardnature.net/n/05/050109.htm ***** Best wishes to all Newsletter subscribers, Jim ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Dying to be thin? Anorexia. Narrated by Julianne Moore . http://us.click.yahoo.com/Dtf6vA/gsnJAA/d1hLAA/0NYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Apply for Commercial Real Estate loans online and submit your deal to dozens of hungry lenders in just minutes. Loan programs for all types of business and commercial real estate. Apply anytime at http://realestatezoo.com b i s e x u a l =============== a bifem.net publication Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bisexual Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bisexual/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
