What defines local cultures? Talking about pinolillo and globalization with my friend Lucía we came to disagree on might be considered local and worth preserving. I, in my ignorance for every thing and any thing Nicaraguan, was trying to compare and relate to a similar version of Guatemalan style, to no avail, since I probably don't know enough of that either. What can be identified as a national preference these days was actually born out of the necessity of drinking what was available, roast maize with cocoa, and then became widely spread to probably collide in the preferences of a younger generation with the ready availability of wide spread coca-cola. Why each Central and South American culture reclaims a certain drink as their own, still puzzles me somewhat. In my native South Europe, we all produce wine and are well-know wine experts, even though the rivalry between a good Portuguese, Spanish, French or Italian red is there too. In Central America and in Mexico, several types of horchata and pinolillo are cherished and served regularly, although each one of the national cultures, and then inside each country's borders, and then in each home, family, or corner, have their own particular version of the drink in question. In the case of pinolillo, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica claim that it's theirs and it has come to symbolize these countries as their national drink, at least as one of them. The variations are a local matter in a globalized context. Of course, because Central American populations have routinely migrated to other parts, including El Norte, it is bound to happen that pinolillo makes it in here too, at least in the confines of larger immigrant enclaves like La pequeña Managua in Miami. What this means is that I too, being not Central American, can also disfrutar del pinolillo nacional nicaraguense. If following our discussion on postmodern identity, I am what I consume, am I a little Nica too by drinking pinolillo in the US? Me, already an European transplant in the US? This is where I will wait for Lucía's answer.