Atole is a traditional Mexican hot drink made with cornmeal, vanilla and cinnamon. But you can make a really excellent (and healthy, too) Belizean variation with the ayote tierno squash, also called “pumpkin” by Belizeans
For this recipe, you’ll need a blender and the following ingredients:
Ayote squash and cooking liquid
milk
honey or sugar
nutmeg or allspice
The amounts of each ingredient depends on the amount of squash you use. Experiment!
Chunk up an ayote squash into 2″ pieces and boil until tender.
Remove chunks from liquid and cool them enough to handle. Save the liquid.
If it is a young ayote with a soft skin, you can use the entire squash. If the skin has toughened with age, scrape out the soft meat with a spoon and discard the skin.
Put chunks into the blender with up to 1 cup of milk and some of the liquid from the cooking – this is where you’ll need to experiment with amounts. It’s your call.
Drizzle in about ¼ cup honey or sugar and a generous sprinkling of nutmeg or allspice, then blend until the mix is smooth and creamy. Taste for sweetness at this point and to see if needs more of the cooking liquid or milk for texture. Pour into a glass, sprinkle more nutmeg on top, and drink warm. This is also delicious icy cold.
This is an especially nice drink for those chilly evenings when the humidity makes everything seem C.O.L.D! You can reheat it in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.
This pumpkin, by the way, is the one Belizeans raise to produce the delicious pumpkin seeds called Pepitas.
