Pinole

Pinole is an interesting and very old preparation that originated with the Aztecs who then spread it throughout Mesoamerica.  It is basically corn that has been roasted, powdered and usually mixed with some type of sugar.  Pinole can be added to recipes or consumed as a drink.  It is a concentrated source of nutrition.

Perhaps you have heard of the Tarahumara indians.  The people famous for their health and ability to run hundreds of miles without rest.  Pinole is a staple in their diet. A  small amount mixed with water is filling and nutritious. 

in earlier days, traveling Native Americans would carry a small bag of Pinole with them and have no fear of hunger.  Early explorers such as Kit Carson and Lewis and Clarke used Pinole.  It is a remarkable emergency food.  And delicious.

Here I have made an heirloom blue corn pinole (Pinole Azul) waffle with powdered sugar and a few blueberries.  Yum!

One wouldn't normally think of a survival food as being so tasty but it does very well in that department.

Back when KY/TN was the western frontier, all woods runners carried parched corn, which often was ground into a form of cornmeal, and served as a substitute for flour. Don't recall that sugar was regularly added, though. Which would make it similar to, but not quite the same, as pinole.

Parched corn wasn't confined to the west. It was for instance, a basic part of the ration for Roger's Rangers, among other militia groups and explorers.

We sometimes forget that in the latter part of the 18th century, upstate NY and most of New England was still wilderness. As was western Pennsylvania.