Pinole

Pinole is flour or powder made of toasted maize and also the beverage prepared by dissolving the powder in water or milk. Sugar, other sweeteners, or flavorings such as chocolate, vanilla, or cinnamon may be added. Pinole (from the Nahuatl pinolli) belongs to the category of maize-based atole gruels used by native peoples in Mexico and the American Southwest. Because pinole requires no cooking, the Aztecs found it ideal food for travelers. Spanish explorers quickly adopted it, and pinole became a staple among Hispanic settlers as well as Native Americans. In Commerce of the Prairies (1844), a classic account of the Santa Fe trade, Josiah Gregg likened pinole to the “cold flour” of the northern Plains Indians, used by hunters and fur-trappers, and noted that some tribes made a similar product from dried mesquite beans. Pinole is still used by elderly people in Hispanic and Native American communities.