Champurrado

Champurrado

Champurrado is a thick Mexican beverage that is a chocolate atole, a drink made with corn flour. Champurrado is a winter beverage—traditionally drunk during Day of the Dead in November and the Christmas Posadas. Served alongside other winter foods, like tamales, champurrado is a symbol of Mexicanidad, or Mexican Identity. Champurrado and Tamales are even served during week-long funeral events at night, as it is a comfort food during time of grief. Atole has been popular in Mexico, long before the Spanish conquistadors—in fact, archaeologists have proven it continues to be made the exact same way, especially when using clay pots and the traditional molinillo (a wooden tool for mixing). Though today, most of the corn flour is ground using electric grinders, or manual steel grinders if still done by hand, some rural communities continue to grind the corn kernels on a block of cured volcanic rock, just like in pre-colonised Mexico. The drink does not use normal sugar, but with unrefined sugar cane called piloncillo [8]. It was thought by the Mayans that champurrado would bring strength to its drinker, perhaps the true endurance of the drink is the comfort and its community-building capabilities. Many things were lost to the Spanish Conquistadores, entire generations of family, language, song, laughter, inventions, science, but not Champurrado. Aside from the human threat, cacao trees are threatened by deforestation, mineral depletion in soil, and fungal disease. Preserving champurrado is synonymous with preserving native indigenous culture, and even the Nahuatl language.

kpf1

English

Intangible

821

09/05/2023

current,18.4631,-99.4145;

TEXT