Nicuátole de Maíz Criollo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve and a manta de cielo or thin cotton cloth for straining
• •Heavy-bottomed nonreactive pot, 3 to 4 quart capacity
• •Wooden spoon with a flat edge for scraping the bottom
• •Shallow ceramic dish for setting, ideally barro rojo from Atzompa or barro negro from San Bartolo Coyotepec

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the corn

   Rinse the maíz criollo under cold water and pick out any dark or broken kernels. Place it in a bowl with the cup of water and 2 cups of the milk. Cover and leave on the counter for at least 8 hours, overnight is better. The kernels will soften and start to release their starch. This soak is what allows the corn to break down into the silken paste that gives nicuátole its body. No me vengas con atajos. Skip this and you will have a grainy pudding that never sets right.

   Maíz criollo is heirloom field corn, not the sweet corn you find in supermarkets. If you cannot find it, look for masienda or a Oaxacan importer. Hominy out of a can will not work. This is a corn dish before it is anything else.
2. 2

   Grind the soaked corn

   Pour the corn and its soaking liquid into a high-powered blender. Blend on the highest setting for a full three to four minutes, until you have a thick, pale, creamy liquid with no visible grit. Stop the blender, scrape down the sides, and blend again. The senoras at Jardín Sócrates do this on a metate and it takes them an hour. The blender is one of the few shortcuts I will allow you here.

3. 3

   Strain through a manta

   Set a fine-mesh sieve lined with a clean cotton cloth (a manta de cielo or a thin dish towel) over a heavy-bottomed pot. Pour the blended corn through, then gather up the corners of the cloth and squeeze hard. You want every drop of corn milk in the pot and only the tough hulls left behind in the cloth. The liquid should be the color of weak café con leche.

4. 4

   Cook the base

   Add the remaining 3 cups of milk, the canela stick, the 3/4 cup piloncillo, the salt, and the strip of lime zest to the pot with the corn liquid. Whisk to dissolve the piloncillo as much as you can. Place over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom and the corners. The mixture will look thin for the first ten or fifteen minutes. Do not raise the heat. Patience is the recipe.

5. 5

   Cook to the spoon test

   Keep stirring. After about 25 to 35 minutes, the mixture will start to thicken visibly. The wooden spoon will leave a trail across the bottom of the pot that holds for a moment before closing. The nicuátole is ready when it coats the back of the spoon thickly and a finger drawn through that coating leaves a clean line that does not run. The senora who taught me this in San Agustín Yatareni said: 'cuando el atole habla, ya está' (when the atole speaks, it's done). The mixture starts making a soft pop as the bubbles surface through the thickened cream. Listen for it.

   Do not walk away. Nicuátole catches on the bottom of the pot the moment you stop stirring, and a scorched batch tastes burned through every spoonful. There is no rescuing it.
6. 6

   Pour and set

   Pull the canela stick and the lime zest out of the pot. Pour the hot nicuátole into a shallow ceramic dish, ideally a barro rojo from Atzompa, about 8 inches square. Smooth the surface with the back of the spoon. Let it sit on the counter, uncovered, for one hour to set at room temperature. Then move it to the refrigerator for at least three more hours, or overnight, until it is firm enough to cut into squares with a knife. Esto no es flan. Nicuátole sets from the corn starch itself, not from eggs, and the texture is denser, more honest, less wobbly.

7. 7

   Make the cochineal-pink tuna syrup

   While the nicuátole sets, peel the tunas rojas. Wear gloves or hold them with a fork. The skin has tiny invisible spines that bite. Cut the flesh into chunks and push it through a sieve to extract the juice, discarding the seeds. You should have about 3/4 cup of bright magenta juice. Pour it into a small saucepan with the 1/4 cup piloncillo, the lime juice, and the ground cochineal. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes, until the syrup thickens enough to coat a spoon. The cochineal deepens the natural pink of the tuna into the carmine the colonial dyers of Oaxaca built an empire on.

   Grana cochinilla is the dried cochineal insect, harvested from nopal cactus in the Valles Centrales for over a thousand years. The Spanish shipped it back to Europe by the ton. Today it colors lipstick, Campari, and yes, your nicuátole. If your guests are squeamish about the source, do not tell them. Asi se hace y punto.
8. 8

   Cut and serve

   Once the nicuátole is fully set, cut it into 2-inch squares directly in the dish. Lift each square out with a small spatula and set it on a piece of banana leaf or chirimoya leaf, the way they sell it from market trays at the dulcerías around the Centro Histórico. Spoon a generous tablespoon of the cochineal-pink tuna syrup over each square. Serve at room temperature or cool, never warm. Saber cocinar es saber vivir, and this dish has been teaching that lesson in Oaxaca for longer than the cathedral has stood in the zócalo.

Chef Tips

• •Maíz criollo is the foundation. Industrial dent corn or sweet corn will not give you the same set or the same flavor. Look for heirloom Oaxacan varieties from a serious importer, or substitute fresh masa nixtamalizada from a tortillería that grinds its own. Canned hominy is not a substitute, it is a different ingredient.
• •The piloncillo matters. Use the dark cone-shaped Mexican piloncillo, not brown sugar. Piloncillo carries a smoky, mineral note from the way the cane is reduced over open fire that brown sugar cannot give you. If you must substitute, panela is the closest cousin.
• •If tunas rojas are not in season, do not fake it with food coloring and water. Use a simple piloncillo syrup with a few drops of cochineal, or skip the topping entirely and serve the nicuátole plain with a sprinkle of canela. Mexican grandmothers cook with what the mercado is selling today, not what they wish was there.

Advance Preparation

• •Nicuátole must be made at least 4 hours ahead to set properly, and it is better the day after. Cover the dish with a plate (not plastic wrap, which will sweat) and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• •The tuna syrup can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept in a small jar in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before spooning over the squares so it pours cleanly.
• •The corn soak is non-negotiable. Start the night before you plan to cook. There is no quick version of this dish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 180g)