T h e p i ñ a t a Perhaps you are not too sure what a piñata is. A piñata is a heavy thing, a large clay pot decorated with coloured paper and silver (or gold), tasselled, cardboard cones. The clay pot concealed beneath the decoration is a thin skinned cantaro. Cantaros, when they are not being used to make piñatas are water pots. They have something similar in India. And as the water percolates through porous baked clay it evaporates and refrigerates the liquid, giving it a deliciously mineraline flavour. At first the taste is very strong and then it softens and dilutes until finally the salty earthiness is no longer perceptible and the cantaro needs replacing. A craftsman covers the clay pot in coloured paper and attaches tasselled cones to it. He may transform it into the figure or head of a well known character, perhaps a character from the songs of Francisco Gabilondo Soler, Cri Cri . La Piñata Una piñata barata y la mejor colación. Ay, marchantita, pos llévese ést...
Left wing commentary from the heart and the head