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Mexican Atoles

Atole is a gruel made in most cases from tortilla dough boiled with plenty of water and a variety of seasonings. It is served in cups with meals, as we serve cocoa, and is a favorite refreshment sent hot to workers in the fields or soldiers on duty.

Sometimes it is simply flavored with a kind of wild sage called chia, again it will be made with fruit juice and brown sugar or honey. An atole flavored generously with chocolate is often served for breakfast with a roll and butter beside it, and from this thick Mexican chocolate the Spanish got the idea of making chocolate with cornstarch, a drink so thick the spoon will stand up by itself in a cup of it. This is called Atole Champurrado, from champurrar-to mix one drink with another.

A nourishing atole has a purée of cooked beans beaten up in it. Another is mixed with the usual Mexican cooking sauce made of chilies, tomato and onion.