“El arte culinario no es una tarea mecanica, ‘es algo que hay que hacer con alma, poniendo sentimiento y estilo como en todo arte” (La Cocina Mexicana Atravez de los Siglos Fundacion Herdez, quoted en Cuerro-Lorens’ wonderful cookbook, 2004)

According to Day in “An Invitation to Dine: Aztec Food and Drink” (1992), the richest gift from the New World to the Old World was not golden treasure as they’d expected, but a wonderful variety of new crops:

Corn (maize), Beans (frijoles), Squash (calabaza), Tomatoes (tomates), Limes (limones), Avocados (aguacates), Chocolate (cacao/xoxactl), Chiles (chiles), Peanuts (cacahuates), Cashews (anacardos), Turkeys (pavos), Pineapples (pinas), Yams, (names), Potatos (papas), Vanilla (vainilla).

The Aztecs believe that corn is a gift to humankind from the great great Quetzalcoatl.

Maize: daily processing of the kernels from the stored, dried ears consumed thousands of hours. It required long periods of soaking, washing and then grinding on a “metate” to finally produce masa. Part of this process was also the processing of the corn with wood ashes (or “calcium hydroxide–ie. slaked lime). This softens the corn for easier grinding and aids in digestibility, releasing the niacin for the body to make use of it. When corn was taken to Italy, they didn’t use the same process and it lead to disastrous consequences for the people who suffered ill health from niacin deficiency.

Masa: The traditional cornmeal dough which is the staple from which tortillas, tamales, and atole are made. Masa is from dried grains of corn, boiled in water with CAL (calcium hydroxide), husks removed and then ground. Masa Harina is all purpose flour made from dried masa.

Chocolate: Xocalatl is derived from two Aztec words, xococ (meaning bitter) and “atl” (meaning water). The cocoa tree is native to what we now call Mexico. The Europeans added the sugar and cream to make the chocolate that we are now familiar with today.