Pozol

Pozol is an ancient Mesoamerican drink of southern Mexico, made by dissolving a ball of fermented, nixtamalised maize dough in cold water to a cloudy, slightly thick and gently sour beverage. Native to the lowland Maya world of Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche, it is drunk plain as pozol blanco or enriched with ground cacao, and is refreshing, faintly tart and remarkably sustaining. The lactic fermentation that sours it makes it essentially non-alcoholic. For farmers and field workers it has long doubled as both drink and light meal, carried into the heat as a few wrapped dough balls and reconstituted with whatever water is to hand.