EMPIRE S CHILDREN: THE PEOPLE OF TZINTZUNTZAN FOSTER 



49 



kind of hominy made with maize soaked in ashes 

 instead of lime. Pork, chiles, and herbs are 

 added to suit the taste, and all is boiled together. 

 This pozole should be distinguished from the 

 drink of the same name known in southern Mex- 

 ico, which consists of toasted ground maize mix- 

 ed in water. 



Posute is made with sweet corn which is cut 

 from the cob and boiled with young squashes. 

 Boiled pork in a sauce of pasilla chiles, salt, 

 and the herb anicillo is then mixed with the 



corn. 



Roasting ears are very popular. Sometimes 

 they are boiled in the inner husk; more often 

 they are roasted in the embers of the fire with 

 the outer husk removed. Salt is added, but the 

 common Mexican mixture of red chiles and salt 

 is unknown. Fresh maize stalks are often cut 

 and chewed for the sweetish juice, in the man- 

 ner of sugarcane. 



X^HEAT PREPARATION 



Most wheat is consumed in bread baked at 

 the two local bakeries. The bakers, like most 

 Mexicans of this calling, are masters at the 

 trade, and the bewildering variety of shapes, 

 names, and flavors which they turn out are a 

 never-ending mystery to an ethnologist raised 

 on the white or whole-wheat system. Several 

 families, as part-time occupations, have small 

 ovens in which they bake a simple, unleavened, 

 slightly sweetened flat loaf. 



When a housewife has time she may prepare 

 a number of other wheat dishes, either grinding 

 her wheat on a metate or, if she has a large sup- 

 ply, taking it to Quiroga to be ground at the 

 mill. Gordas are thick tortillas baked on a grid- 

 dle. Miel de piloncillo (a sirup made of brown 

 sugar and water) and baking soda for lightness 

 are added to the wheat dough. Capirotada is a 

 sweetish dish made from thick toasted pieces 

 of bread, tostadas, which are soaked in a thick 

 brown sugar sirup flavored with cinnamon, top- 

 ped off" with grated cheese. This dish is partic- 

 ularly favored for the days of vigilia, meatless 

 days, the Fridays of Lent and the last half of 

 Easter Week. Bunuelos are large thin wheat tor- 

 tillas fried in deep fat and soaked in the same 

 sweet sirup used for capirotada. Since wheat 

 dough cannot be patted into tortilla form, a nap- 

 kin is placed on the knee of the cook, who grad- 



ually pulls a handful of dough into the desired 

 form. This dish is often eaten with atole bianco 

 (see below) for supper. 



TAMALES 



The tamale, while made primarily with 

 maize, may also be made with wheat. The most 

 common types are known as de frijol, de haba 

 or de chicharo, depending on whether they are 

 filled with beans, broadbeans, or peas. Tamale 

 nixtamal is made with a mixture of lime and 

 ash; lime alone ijiakes the dough muy fresco 

 ("very fresh"). After grinding, the dough is 

 boiled and then handfuls spread out on a table 

 and patted flat. Meanwhile, beans, peas, or 

 broadbeans are boiled, ground to a paste, and 

 mixed with pasilla chiles and salt. Any one of 

 these fillers is placed on the boiled corn pats, 

 the edges folded over, and the ball wrapped 

 in maize husks or leaves and boiled for several 

 hours. Husks are called hojas blancas, because 

 they are dry and whitish, and leaves hojas ver- 

 des because they are fresh and green. 



The tamal de cenizas ("ash tamale") has only 

 salt and lard added to the boiled dough; it is 

 always wrapped in green maize leaves. The ta- 

 mal de leche ("milk tamale") is made from 

 milk atole (see below) to which flour is added 

 as thickening. It is boiled, wrapped in husks, 

 and reboiled without filler. The nacatamal is 

 made like the ash tamale, except that more lard 

 is added, to make a lighter and spongier prod- 

 uct. Boiled pork in a pasilla chile sauce is ad- 

 ded as filler and the tamale is wrapped in dried 

 maize leaves. Nacatamales de dulce ("sweet 

 nacaiamales" ) are made with cinnamon, anise, 

 and brown sugar as a filler. 



Kurundas (T.) are small triangular tamales 

 wrapped in green maize leaves. Salt, lard, and 

 baking soda are added to the dough to produce 

 a delicacy not unlike Boston brown bread. The 

 uchepu (T.) is a tamale made with green corn 

 cut off^ the cob, ground on a metate, boiled, and 

 wrapped in green husks. Sweet uchepus are 

 made with sugar, cinnamon, and anise. Salty 

 uchepus have salt and baking soda added. These 

 tamales are, of course, made only during the 

 short season of roasting ears from mid-Septem- 

 ber to early in November. 



The tamal de harina ("flour tamale") is 

 made of milled wheat mixed with baker's yeast 



