Champurrado and Buñuelos: Traditional taste-bud tempters of the season

December 6, 2007
By Debbie Nygren Sontag
Special to LIVE!

After mentioning the simple, family tradition recipes we had in mind for this month to several friends, I came to the conclusion that you will want to try them, too.

Maria Sorola, Juanita Renteria, Elsa Morales and Antonieta Fabila welcomed LIVE! into the Casa de la Cultura on Brown Plaza to experience something new to me, but probably very familiar to most in our community. Renteria was already busily whipping up buñuelos (fried flour tortillas sprinkled with freshly-ground cinnamon and sugar) and Fabila was waiting for us to begin the champurrado (chahm-pooh-RAH-dough), a sweet, hot chocolate/cinnamon drink.

As always, the company and the stories were wonderful. But, I was fascinated by the cultural history of champurrado. Some research on the origin of this sweet, soothing drink reveals many spellings of the name and even more variations of the recipe. But, the one common denominator is the fact that this drink is prepared to “bring family and friends together.” It is typically made during the holiday season, although many serve it year-round. It’s often served with tamales and other dishes. We were lucky enough to have it alongside the buñuelos (boo-you-EH-los).

Our generous hosts were very kind in sharing some of the history of the buñuelos. Fabila said that at one time, the tortillas were stretched over the rounded, bent knees of women making them. Now, they are thinned first by rolling pin, and then stretched lace-thin by the very capable hands of the cooks making them.

Buñuelos
1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
1 cup of vegetable oil
Freshly-ground cinnamon and sugar to coat (You can put cinnamon sticks into a counter-top coffee grinder for this, and it’s worth that little effort!)

Mix the flour and water by hand. Once the mixture has become a firm dough, divide into equal sized balls (about the size of a golf ball). Roll each ball with a rolling pin until you have a thin, round tortilla, and then – with your hands – stretch it into an almost paper-thin sheet.

Set aside for about a half an hour before placing into the oil. (This will prevent the hot oil from “splattering or spitting” as you introduce the tortilla into the heated oil, and make a crisper product that will absorb less oil as it cooks).

Mix the ground cinnamon and sugar (one cup of sugar and four sticks of ground cinnamon were used today). Heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees F and gently add the tortillas (one at a time) and turn occasionally until lightly golden brown. Remove the tortilla and liberally sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over each side, set aside on a paper towel and continue until all are cooked.

Champurrado
4 bars of Nestle’s “Abuelita” (dense chocolate discs found in most local supermarkets)
1 gallon of milk
1 cup (up to 2 cups if you prefer a thicker drink) of Maseca (corn or masa harina)
5 cinnamon sticks
2 cups of sugar

Mix two cups of cold milk with one cup of Maseca in a large bowl (Antonieta used a beautiful blue pottery bowl that was created for the Empty Bowls show and benefit by Lilia Ramon. Whisk together until thickened (almost translucent) and set aside.

Heat the remaining milk, four bars of Abuelita, five cinnamon sticks and two cups of sugar in a large pot over medium heat, stirring until chocolate is thoroughly melted.

Once reaching a low boil, add the milk/Maseca mixture and stir continually until reaching a rolling boil. (Be careful! This can come to a boil very quickly, and boil over causing a big mess!). Remove from heat and serve in cups or mugs.

To see some interesting discussion on the probable roots of this great, traditional drink, see http://www.chocolatecurb.com/category/chocolate-culture/page/2/

¡Buen provecho!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renteria lifts a perfectly fried tortilla from the hot grease, letting it drip dry before replacing the one in the sugar-cinnamon mix in the bowl with the fresh one on her fork. The process is not difficult, but it is painstaking if a pile of uniform products is to be achieved. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)	Maria Sorola and her friends at Casa De La Cultura testify that Abuelita Mexican chocolate discs are the key ingredient to flavor a successful pot of champurrado. The dense, dark chocolate is available in most local grocery stores. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)	The first step in concocting a steaming hot pot of champurrado is simply letting the key ingredients – cinnamon, milk, and dense Mexican chocolate – melt and meld flavors as they simmer gently. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)
Antonieta Favila gently stirs Maseca masa with water to create a thickener for the champurrado in a beautiful ceramic bowl created by Casa De La Cultura Assistant Director Lilia Bolaños. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)		Elsa Morales, daughter of Antonieta Favila, slowly pours the Maseca masa thickener into the simmering champurrado mixture. This is the last step before serving the piping hot beverage that will burn the mouth if not allowed to cool if one is understandably impatient to taste the sweet, fragrant confection. (LIVE! photo/Bill Sontag) (click image to enlarge)