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Showing results for tags 'Atol'.
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We finally got around to checking out La Casita, a pupuseria and carryout in a tiny little strip near the corner of Piney Branch Road and Dale Drive. The pupusas mixtas had a nice little crunch to the outside, creamy beans, and good curtido. Carne Asada was respectable and the grilled shell-on jumbo shrimp, Camarones a la Plancha, were much better than expected. All Platos de La Casita come with yellow rice studded with tiny pieces of carrot, and either pureed and rather soupy refried red beans or a surprisingly fresh salad. We ordered Enchiladas Salvadorenas (corn tortillas fried until very crisp and topped with beans, queso seco, and curtido) on a whim and we wouldn't get them again; they were greasy and dull. The store has an extensive selection of frescos tropicales and liquidos that bears exploring, and they offer Atol de Elote, a hot corn drink that has me curious. Two platos, two pupusas, and two enchiladas came to $21.00. La Casita 8214 Piney Branch Road Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-588-6656 (They offer the usual beans, cheese, pork and combination pupusas but next time I'd like to try loroco.) -
Today I had one of the most unusual things I've ever eaten (or in this case, drunk): Atol chuco ($3) - there are either spelling variations, or the place I had it (Sofia's Pupuseria) spelled it wrong. I can't even describe the drink - it was hot, thick but not too thick, sweet but not too sweet, and it clearly took some time to prepare: It was ladled out of a cooker. I think there are about five ingredients in this drink, and I could have gotten it with elote instead of chuco. Has anyone out there had this beverage, and if so, could you please tell me what in the *heck* I drank? It's about the most bizarre combination of things I've ever had in a beverage in my life. The version I had, I'm pretty sure, was Honduran. If you've ever had a Vietnamese "black bean" or "red bean" dessert, I'd put it somewhere on a par with those in terms of taking a meat-and-potatoes person out of their comfort zone - I'd never even *heard* of either of these words before - chuco, I was told, is some sort of pepper, but this drink was not spicy in the least. This drink is so foreign to me that, even though those two Wikipedia entries say what it is, I *still* don't know what it is. The color was mostly a type of mauve, but not entirely - like there was a mixture of purple yam and cassava - and there was a greenish-brown, powdered something-or-other on top, like brown sugar with cinnamon but not. I'm sorry I can't be more help, but I just had something really, really exotic, and the women working at Sofia's were laughing their asses off when I ordered it. Without getting too graphic, it's almost like I had a cup of hot, raspberry-tinged snot.
