Atol de Chuco

[DonRocks]

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.

[TheMatt]

It's essentially corn gruel you drink, right? Sort of a sweet liquid tortilla (made from masa!). I think I had it once at a Salvadoran place and it was spiced with alguashte which, I'll admit, is not my favorite flavor. (ETA: I think this is the powder you had on it. It's mainly ground pumpkin seeds, I think.)

You are right. It's an odd sensation. Made me long for some banal-by-comparison horchata!

[DonRocks]

24 minutes ago, TheMatt said:

It's essentially corn gruel you drink, right? Sort of a sweet liquid tortilla (made from masa!). I think I had it once at a Salvadoran place and it was spiced with alguashte which, I'll admit, is not my favorite flavor. (ETA: I think this is the powder you had on it. It's mainly ground pumpkin seeds, I think.)

You are right. It's an odd sensation. Made me long for some banal-by-comparison horchata!

You described it a whole lot better than I did, and corn gruel would be a good descriptor. There could have been pumpkin seeds in the powder, but it wasn't only pumpkin seeds - there was some brown sugar in there I think, kind of like a crumble. And yes, an horchata by comparison would be like drinking a glass of water.