Recipe for Tascalate

Traditionally, tascalate is prepared by washing corn, sun drying it and later broiling it in an oven side by side with the cacao. When ready it is ground with cinnamon, toasted tortillas and achiote, which gives a nice orange color. It is then mixed with cold water or milk and sweetened with sugar.

The recipe is so simple it looks hard. Here's what you do:

Mix toasted corn meal, cocoa, achiote paste, and chile powder or cinnamon, to taste, in water. Drink hot or cold.

This can be sweetened with honey or sugar, but traditionalists prefer it with only the sweetness of the toasted corn meal. Usually, the chile powder is used in the unsweetened version, the cinnamon in the sweetened.

I also found this recipe, which is more specific:

• 1 kilo grilled and crushed tortillas
• 250 g peeled and roasted cocoa beans
• 10 cinnamon sticks, cut into small pieces
• 5 g achiote paste
• water, as necessary
• sugar to taste
  
  Preparation
  Mix the crushed tortilla with the cocoa, cinnamon and the rocou and grind them in a hand mill. To prepare the drink, add two spoonfuls of this preparation per glass of water, sweeten to taste with sugar and beat with a whisk ('molinillo') before serving.
  
  Remarks
  A tortilla is a sort of pancake made with corn flour
  The sugar can also be added during milling to be blend perfectly with the other ingredients.

Cochinita Pibil

Cochinita pibil (also puerco pibil) is a traditional Mexican slow-roasted pork dish from Yucatán Península. Preparation of traditional cochinita or puerco pibil involves marinating the meat in strongly acidic citrus juice, coloring it with annatto seed, and roasting the meat while it is wrapped in banana leaf.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup Annatto or Achiote paste
• 10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup orange juice
• Juice of 2 limes
• 8 bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 4 pounds pork butt, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 pound banana leaves, softened over low flame, or foil
• 2 white onions, sliced 1/2inch thick
• 5 Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/2inch thick
• 4 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled and sliced into strips

Directions

In a medium size bowl, mash together the achiote paste, garlic, orange juice, lime juice, bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper with a fork. Add the pork, toss to evenly coat and marinate, at room temperature, at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat a dry cast iron skillet over high heat. Char the onion until blackened on both sides. Char the tomatoes on both sides. Reserve.

Line a large baking dish with one layer of the banana leaves or foil. Arrange the pork in an even layer and top with the onions, tomatoes and chiles and all the marinade. Cover with more banana leaves and wrap the dish tightly in foil. Bake for 21/2 hours or until the pork is tender and moist. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes. Unwrap and serve with pickled shallots.

c.1996, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger,
all rights reserved

All About Achiote

Achiote (Bixa orellana) is a shrub or small tree from the tropical region of the American continent. The name derives from the Nahuatl word for the shrub, achiotl. It is also known as Aploppas, and its original Tupi name urucu. It is cultivated there and in Southeast Asia, where it was introduced by the Spanish in the 17th century. It is best known as the source of the natural pigment annatto, produced from the fruit. The plant bears pink flowers and bright red spiny fruits which contain red seeds. The fruits dry and harden to brown capsules.








The inedible fruit is harvested for its seeds, which contain annatto, also called bixin. It can be extracted by stirring the seeds in water. It is used to color food products, such as cheeses, fish, and salad oil. Sold as a paste or powder for culinary use, mainly as a color, it is known as "achiote," "annatto," "bijol," or "pimentão doce." It is a main ingredient in the Yucatecan spice mixture recado rojo, or "achiote paste." The seeds are ground and used as a subtly flavored and colorful additive in Latin American, Jamaican and Filipino cuisine.

Annatto is growing in popularity as a natural alternative to synthetic food coloring compounds. While it has a distinct flavor of its own, it can be used to color and flavor rice instead of the much more expensive saffron. It is an important ingredient of cochinita pibil, (here's the recipe) the spicy pork dish popular in Mexico. It is also a key ingredient in the drink Tascalate from Chiapas, Mexico.

In addition to foods, this seed and pulp are used to color candies, cosmetics and textiles. The achiote has long been used by American Indians to make body paint, especially for the lips, which is the origin of the plant's nickname, lipstick tree. The use of the dye in the hair by men of the Tsáchila of Ecuador is the origin of their usual Spanish name, the Colorados.

Parts of the plant can be used to make medicinal remedies for such conditions as sunstroke, tonsilitis, burns, leprosy, pleurisy, apnoea, rectal discomfort, and headaches. The sap from fruits is also used to treat type 2 diabetes, and fungal infections.

To prepare the Achiote, place the seeds into the liquid ingredients being prepared or add the seeds to hot water to obtain the color and flavor desired before using the mixture to color rice or as a stock to add flavors to other foods. To store, keep the seeds in an airtight container away from heat.