What Cocol means
Cocol is a Mexican bread name of Nahuatl origin meaning "twisted or rhombus-shaped roll". It comes from cocolli (a twisting; also glossed as quarrel or blow). It is pronounced koh-KOL, and it is most associated with central Mexico.
One of the oldest pan dulce names in Mexico, for the dark diamond-shaped anise bread. Nahuatl cocolli is glossed several ways, from 'quarrel' to 'twisted thing', and which sense the bread was named for is disputed.
About this origin. The etymology is uncertain, disputed, or the name is a modern brand rather than an old word. The reading above is the best-supported one; food writing repeats stories that the dictionaries do not confirm.
Cocol is one of the many Mexican food words formed in Nahuatl. Spanish borrowed it, and in several cases English borrowed it again from Spanish. See how Nahuatl builds words and the full list of Mexican food names.
This is a site about what Mexican words mean, so there is no recipe here. For the name itself: Mexican pan dulce is named by shape, and the names are pure visual poetry: concha (shell), oreja (ear), cuernito (little horn), ojo de buey (ox eye), corbata (necktie), puerquito (little pig), bigote (moustache).
