This is the most prized and valued chocolate drink that is made in Oaxaca. You pronounce it like it is one word chocolateatole. This is not champurrado (an atole made with chocolate). This is an entirely different drink and the most complicated that exists in all of Latin America. It is usually prepared for very special events like weddings and funerals and it is rarely sold at any location – you have to find someone to make it for you. The drink is made up of two different parts, one is the chocolate foam and the other is the sweet atole. The sweet atole goes on the bottom and the foam is placed on top.
Chocolate atole takes months to prepare. Yes, months. The most important ingredient is theobroma bicolor, a cousin to cacao. The bicolor seed, which is also called pataxte or balam, is removed from the fruit, fermented, dried, then buried in the ground and watered for up to 6 months to undergo a second type of fermentation. Once the beans are white and chalky, they are acceptable to begin the recipe.
You begin by grinding the balam, cacao, rice, wheat, and cinnamon. You make a paste that contains no liquid therefore is shelf stable and can be used at anytime in the future.
When you are ready to make the actual drink, take that paste and grind on your metate with a little bit of water until it becomes the consistency of cake batter. You place this batter into a bowl with more water and whisk with your molinillo – every time you amount a lot of foam, scoop it out and then whisk again to create more foam.
For the second part of the recipe you need to boil corn, water and sugar until it becomes a porridge. These creamy, sweet, thick atole will be placed first into you cup then you will cover with the foam. Once you have both components together, you place a wooden stirrer, called an alcahuete, which will be used to mix them together before drinking.
Chocolate Atole Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 15 servings
Description
The most precious cacao drink in Oaxaca, almost impossible to make if you are not from Oaxaca.
Ingredients
FOR THE FOAM:
1 cup of cacao beans
1/2 cup of fermented balam/bicolor/pataxte beans
1/2 uncooked rice
1/2 wheat berries
1 tablespoon of Mexican cinnamon (ceylon)
FOR THE ATOLE:
1lb of dried corn (maize)
2-4 cups of water
sugar to taste
Instructions
FOR THE FOAM:
- Toast the cacao and the balam, set aside and allow to cool to remove the husks.
- Toast the rice on low heat until it become light brown, let cool then grind in a spice grinder or on your metate.
- Grind the wheat berries to the same fine consistency as the rice.
- Blend all ingredients until it forms a paste, best is to pass through a molino or metate but a food processor will also work.
- Add a bit of water at a time until a soft paste is formed.
- Place the paste in a bowl and add about 2 cups of cold water, mix with a molinillo until you develop a lot of froth. Watch this video for a visual of the process.
FOR THE ATOLE:
- Boil the corn in the water and once it is soft, liquefy, strain, and continue to boil with the sugar until it becomes thick like a porridge or atole.
- Category: cacao drinks
- Method: grind, boil, whisk
Keywords: chocolateatole, chocolate, atole, oaxaca, cacao drinks, bebidas de cacao, metate, molinillo