What Elote means
Elote is a Mexican antojito name of Nahuatl origin meaning "tender ear of maize". It comes from ēlōtl (green ear of maize, kernels just formed). It is pronounced eh-LOH-teh, and it is most associated with the whole country.
Nahuatl distinguished the stages of the ear: xīlōtl the immature ear, ēlōtl the tender one, tlaōlli the dried shelled kernel, ōlōtl the bare cob.
Elote 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: Antojito means "little craving". These are the masa-based street foods named for their shape more often than their filling: a sope is a small mound, a huarache is a sandal, a gordita is a fat little one, a tlacoyo is an oval patty.
