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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



chiles are added. Everything is passed through 

 a colander before cooking. 



Pu</Ui kamdfa. — This is made as is the one 

 just described, but anis is used as flavoring and 

 ground green corn is used instead of the ordin- 

 ary maize dough. Nothing else is eaten with 

 this. 



Tamarindo kamdta. — Maize dough and sugar 

 are put through a colander and thoroughly 

 boiled with 5 centavos worth of tamarind or 

 blackberries. A small quantity of leaves of 

 black or red maize is boiled ; the liquid is added, 

 giving the atole a blackish color. It is eaten 

 with bread in the dry season. 



Cardkata cardpiti. — According to another 

 informant, this is made the same as tamarindo 

 kamata, but with ground tamarisk or ground 

 blackberry added. It is said this is the only 

 occasion blackberries are used. March, April, 

 and May, the warm season, is the time for 

 eating this, as it is said to be a "cold" atole. 

 When the atole has cooled and thickened, small 

 portions are sometimes put on the colored maize 

 leaves and allowed to thicken or harden like 

 fruit paste. If not eaten immediately, it may 

 be wrapped in the leaves. 



I(fukua kumata (milk atole). — Ordinary 

 maize dough atole is made with milk. This is 

 one of the more common atoles. It is eaten with 

 bread." 



Toquera icusta. — Uncooked maize toquera 

 (half way between green and mature maize) 

 is ground on the metate, mixed with brown 

 sugar and bicarbonate of soda (to prevent con- 

 stipation), and fried in fat. This is a type 

 of gordo. 



Uacakata. — This is red or black maize which 

 has been boiled on the cob and then dried for at 

 least several months. This is one of the forms 

 of maize preservation ; the maize may be kept 

 as long as 2 years. When desired, it is soaked 

 for a day and night and then boiled. It is used 

 ground for atole or is boiled with brown sugar. 



RICE FODIIS 



Arroz kamdta, rice atole. — Well-cooked rice, 

 milk, sugar, a bit of cinnamon, and a little 



1" It is reported that in Zamora and Purepero. both old Mestizo 

 towns, the favorite atole is made of mesquite. The beans are 

 ground on the metate and cooked. 



wheat flour or maize dough for thickening are 

 all passed through a colander and boiled. 



AMARANTH FOODS 



C'dpata kurunda. — This is a tamale made 

 from amaranth, bledos or alegria (paari), 

 which is cultivated both in gardens and in the 

 fields. The seed is ground with brown sugar, 

 with water added to make a dough. It is then 

 wrapped in maize husks and cooked. 



WHEAT FOODS 



At harvest time the heads are toasted on the 

 comal and eaten. A kind of oval wheat flour 

 tortilla is made just after wheat harvest, espe- 

 cially in May and June. 



Semitas, or round wheat breads. — -These 

 are made primarily in the town, partly for sale 

 in Uruapan or Paracho on market days. The 

 wheat is usually ground on the metate, but there 

 is some variation in the coarseness of the flour. 

 Semitas are made with yeast, shaped, and set 

 on boards to rise. They are baked in the dome- 

 shaped Spanish oven. If the baker does not 

 own an oven, she pays one bread for each board- 

 ful she bakes. 



Tri kamdta. — Wheat is dampened and ground 

 to flour, with water added to make a dough. 

 The dough is dissolved in water and cooked 

 with an herb called epazote (chile cascabel) 

 and salt. It is strained before boiling. It is 

 eaten alone without bread or tortillas. 



Gordos. — Ground wheat is mixed with water 

 and made into flat cakes. They are fried in 

 deep pork fat, and are pretty greasy. 



VEGETABLES AND FRUITS 



Cabbage is the most common vegetable. It 

 is always eaten cooked, usually with meat. 

 Scarcely a house in Cherj'in does not have a 

 small plot of cabbage. People who do not 

 have their own, buy cabbage from house own- 

 ers who do. Cabbage is not sold in the market. 



Chayotes constitute an important food during 

 the season. Children munch on them all day. 

 Cooked chayotes ai'e sold on the streets at 

 2 to 5 centavos, depending on size. 



Chayote roots, which are dug up every few 

 years, are boiled and eaten. They resemble a 

 very good baked potato in flavor. 



