Yunuen from Xoxoc was very excited when she told me about a special pinole (peen-oh-lay) made from heirloom blue corn. I wasn’t 100 percent sure what to do with it but I knew if vaguelly had something to do with a kind of atole drink, not unlike gruel.
It turns out there are many uses for it and a delicious hot beverage is not uncommon. To make Atole de Pinole, you start about a liter of water to boil. In a measuring cup, add a cup of milk or almond milk and mix in 1 cup of the pinole. This is to avoid lumps. Add it to the soon to be boiling water. When it reaches a rapid boil, turn the heat down so you have a gentle boil and let it roll for about five minutes. At this point, you add more sweetener or milk and of course you can play around with these ratios, keeping in mind the more milk and sugar, the higher the chance for scorching and you’ll need to keep stirring constantly.
My youngest son asked me to make it and then later asked me to make it again, so in our house, it’s a hit. I searched the internet for information on pinole and most of it comes from runners, who mix it with chia for a potent energy food.
I’ve even experimented making pancakes, subbing some of the wheat with pinole. It worked.
