AZTEC CUISINE

The Aztecs where one of the stongest people in the world in the 14th, 15th and 16th century, there diet was mostly vegetarian (95%)

The most important staple of Aztec cuisine was maize (corn), a crop that was so important to Aztec society that it played a central part in their mythology. Just like wheat in Europe or rice in most of East Asia, it was the food without which a meal was not a meal. It came in an inestimable number of varieties varying in color, texture, size and prestige and was eaten as tortillas, tamales or atolli, maize gruel. The other constants of Aztec food were salt and chilies and the basic definition of Aztec fasting was to abstain from these two flavorers. The other major foods were beans and New World varieties of the grains amaranth (or pigweed), and CHIA. The combination of maize and these basic foods would have provided the average Aztec with a very well-rounded diet without any significant deficiencies in vitamins or minerals. The processing of maize called nixtamalization, the cooking of maize grains in alkaline solutions, also drastically increased the nutritional value of the common staple.

Water, maize gruels and pulque, the fermented juice of the century plant, were the most common drinks, and there were many different fermented alcoholic beverages made from honey, cacti and various fruits. Drinking was tolerated, even for children on some occasions, but intoxication was generally not. Though sources diverge on the details, it is clear that the elderly were to some extent exempt from these restrictions. For others, the punishment could be extremely harsh, and the rules were especially strict for the elite who could be sentenced to death for immoderate bouts of drinking. The elite took pride in not drinking pulque, a drink of commoners, and preferred drinks made from cacao. It was one of the most prestigious luxuries available; it was the drink of rulers, warriors and nobles and was flavored with chili peppers, honey and a seemingly endless list of spices and herbs. So precious was cacao that the beans were used as currency, and even counterfeited.

The Aztec diet included an impressive variety of animals; turkeys and various fowl, pocket gophers, iguanas, axolotls (a type of water salamanders), shrimp, fish and a great variety of insects, larvae and insect eggs. They ate various mushrooms and fungi, including the parasitic corn smut, which grows on ears of corn. Squash was very popular and came in many different varieties. Squash seed, fresh, dried or roasted, ware especially popular. Tomatoes, though different from the varieties common today, was often mixed with chile in sauces or as filling for tamales.