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  • Pinolli on Random Foods Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact

    (#11) Pinolli

    Pinolli is a testament to the itinerant nature of life for poorer or contracted Aztecs. This simple meal of ground and toasted maize kept well, and travelers or warriors would carry it for access to a quick and filling dish.

    While lacking in flavor, pinolli could be mixed with water and other ingredients - such as cacao - to make it more enjoyable. These sorts of instant meals - referred to as atolli - were popular among the lower-class Aztecs.

     

  • Huitlacoche on Random Foods Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact

    (#9) Huitlacoche

    Known as "Mexican truffles," huitlacoche is a corn (or maize) fungus now seen as a gourmet food. It is described as a "disorganized greyish mass, glossy outside and black inside when overripe."

    In the Aztec language, Nahuatl, huitlacoche translates to "sleeping excrescence." This is because the fungus affects the growth of corn kernels, in essence causing them to "fall asleep." However, the Aztecs saw "this scourge as a blessing in disguise," creating sustenance out of the fungus that was ruining their beloved maize.

    When young, the white fungus tastes good raw, while the aged black fungus is better cooked.

  • Chocolatl on Random Foods Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact

    (#1) Chocolatl

    The Aztecs can be thanked for their contributions to the development of chocolate. To these ancient people, what they referred to as chocolatl was considered a "food of the gods."

    Chocolatl as the Aztecs knew it was much different than the chocolate of modern times. It wasn't sweet or formed into bars. In fact, the Aztecs made a drink out of the cacao seed in lieu of transforming it into the treat it makes today.

    Bernardino de Sahagún explains in the Florentine Codex the context through which chocolatl drinks were swilled:

    This cacao when much is drunk, when much is consumed, especially that which is green, which is tender, makes one drunk, takes effect on one, makes one dizzy, confuses one, makes one sick, deranges one.

    There's been a lot of speculation over how the chocolatl drink caused intoxication, but the cacao tree had religious significance to the Aztecs, and the drink was used in various rituals.

  • Octli on Random Foods Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact

    (#10) Octli

    Even the Aztecs imbibed. Drinking was ceremonial and ritualistic for these ancient Mesoamericans. Octli, also known as pulque, was a fermented drink derived from the sweet sap of the agave plant. The Aztecs referred to this plant as maguey, and it is affiliated with the pulque goddess, Mayahuel.

    While they constructed intricate vessels for the octli rituals, the drink actually pre-dates the Aztecs. The Aztecs, themselves, had rules and guidelines in place for the consumption of octli. For example, only women past child-bearing age were allowed to partake.

  • Ahuaca-Mulli on Random Foods Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact

    (#5) Ahuaca-Mulli

    Ahuaca-mulli is essentially an early version of guacamole. The pre-Columbian Aztecs would have eaten these mashed avocados with tomatoes and some coriander leaves.

    As historian Sophie D. Coe writes about ahuaca-mulli, "Wrapped in a maize tortilla, preferably freshly made, or even on a tortilla chip, it might ever so distantly evoke the taste of Tenochtitlan."

  • Amaranth Tamales on Random Foods Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact

    (#3) Amaranth Tamales

    The amaranth plant possessed a religious significance for the Aztecs, and its seeds and young leaves were used in various types of cuisine. Amaranth seeds could be cooked, combined with sweeteners like maguey (agave) to make dough, or added to other dishes.

    It was cooked in tamales - corn flour steamed in husks and filled with various foods - for lords and upper classes, especially around festival days. During these celebrations, it was still possible for commoners to get their hands on these specialties.

    The 16th-century Florentine Codex, written by a Spanish monk in Mesoamerica, describes the preparation of "tamales made of maize flowers with ground amaranth seed and cherries added" and "tamales stuffed with amaranth greens."

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The Aztecs are ancient Mexican civilizations that existed in the 14th to 16th centuries, mainly distributed in central and southern Mexico. The Aztecs are the indigenous people of Mexico. Through generations of selection and optimization, the Aztecs have cultivated a series of foods that affect the food culture of the world. The diversified climate breeds rich biodiversity and also provides favorable conditions for agricultural planting.

Pumpkin is regarded as the first crop cultivated by the ancestors of Central America, then corn and kidney beans became important foods. Aztecs seem to have a talent for cooking delicious foods, you will learn about random 11 foods Aztecs were eating.

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