Mote (food)

Mote (from Quechua: mut'i, through Spanish mote) is the generic name for several varieties of corn grains boiled, consumed in many regions of South America. It is usually prepared by boiling the grains in water made alkaline by the addition of ashes or lime, a process known as nixtamalization.

In Argentina, mote is consumed primarily in the mountainous northwest region, and less frequently in Cuyo and Patagonia. It is a stew of thin consistency (this is one of the main differences with the soup called locro) made from white hominy, sometimes peeled, and boiled with jume ash. The grains are usually accompanied with small pieces of meat (llama, goat, mutton, beef, pork, poultry and more rarely viscacha and mulita). It is also made with beans and with wheat. In Patagonia, in the northern region, in addition to the stew, it is consumed accompanied with some sort of cool drink, either water, juice, tea, soft drinks, with or without the addition of sugar.

In Bolivia "mote" refers to grain cooked in its husk. Typically, corn is used; fava beans are also used occasionally. When the husk is removed from the grain, the dish is called pelado. The term pelado used alone refers to corn. Wheat pelado is used mainly in soups.

When the term "mote" is used alone, it refers to wheat mote, that is wheat grain boiled and removed from its husk, generally in an industrial process. It is used mainly to make a sweet beverage called mote con huesillos. Salted, it is used to accompany stews and sauces (guisos), in dishes such as porotos con mote, mote guisado and papas con mote. It is also used in soups. In Mapuche cuisine it is used for making a type of dough called catuto in Spanish (mültrün in Mapudungun), for making a slightly alcoholic drink called muday, and as an ingredient in many foods, such as cazuelas and kakoiyael ("food of mote").

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Wikipedia