One of the cornerstones of the diet favored by the ancient cultures of Central America was maize, or, as it's more commonly known, corn. In fact, some of the earliest indications of the practice of agriculture have been discovered at Mayan excavation sites, leading archaeologists to believe that ancient Mesoamericans, like the Maya and Aztec, were among the first peoples to perfect and make widespread use of farming and irrigation techniques. Scientists have furthermore unearthed evidence that corn and corn seed was used for agriculture at times predating even the Maya, Aztec, and Olmec civilizations, its use stretching back to the 5,000 BC or even before.
The practice of turning large areas of previously thick tropical forest into human-cultivated farming plots was one of the critical advancements that allowed Maya and Aztec cities and civilizations to thrive. Our best indications are that the traditional Mesoamerican diet consisted mainly of farmed corn, beans, and manioc (tubers), supplemented by wild game, which was mixed into the food when available to balance out its nutritional properties and provide a healthy level of protein. However, the subject of beverages is one which still leaves many anthropologists unsure when contemplating the typical Mesoamerican's eating habits. It seems likely that simple collecting rainwater would have been insufficient, despite the wet jungle environs, due in part to the large populations which both cultures managed to support for long periods of time in highly urbanized settings.
Corn as both Food and Beverage
Less well-popularized was the Maya affinity for corn and bean-based drinks. Probably resembling sweetened soymilk in texture and taste, the ancient Maya mashed both maze and beans and liquified them, drinking the concoction as a beverage alternative to water when washing down their meals. We know that the Maya had a bit of a sweet tooth, so we can imagine that sugar or other natural sweeteners were probably added to make the mixture more palatable.
Chocolate Delights
Evidence that the Maya royalty and elite class enjoyed chocolate as a delicacy is abundant; in fact, the Maya were the first to make chocolate into a drink to serve their ruling class. It's safe to assume that the methods those early Mayan cooks stumbled upon to perfect their hot chocolate could also have been applied to making a more delicious bean or corn elixir for the common folk as well.
A Source of Sugar
Although the lands settled by the Maya were perfect for growing cocoa beans - doubly lucky due to the species' unwillingness to flower in most locations - obtaining sugar proved a slightly bigger problem. To create a source of sugar that would allow them to continue developing sweet teas, drinks, cakes, and other culinary delights, the Maya used their ingenuity to domesticate and harvest the product of a tiny indigenous friend: the bee. Archaeological evidence shows that the Maya were the first Mesoamerican culture to develop the practice of beekeeping.
To begin the process by which honey could be used to sweeten Mayan food and drink, cooks would first have to boil the maze or beans that would be used for the base of the drink. Boiling killed bacteria, and the next step, straining the mix and mashing it into a fine paste, removed the possibility that leaves, bugs, or other contaminants like raw seeds would make it through into the final product. The resulting material would be boiled again in a fresh pot of water to thin it, and the beekeeper's honey gradually added, while the boiling liquid was stirred to ensure the honey distributed equally.
As honey was a common ingredient used in Maya cooking, one might be tempted to consider what kind of confection first introduced them to the wonders of sweetening all sorts of foodstuffs. Was it a pot of prepared sweet tea with some maize accidentally boiled into the mix? Whatever it was, the cultivation of both bees and corn stand as tributes to the unparalleled ingenuity of the Maya. Two thousand years before the first Egyptian bowed down before the Sun-god, Mesoamericans were toiling away on their maize farms, building the seeds of one of history's greatest and most mysterious empires.
The practice of turning large areas of previously thick tropical forest into human-cultivated farming plots was one of the critical advancements that allowed Maya and Aztec cities and civilizations to thrive. Our best indications are that the traditional Mesoamerican diet consisted mainly of farmed corn, beans, and manioc (tubers), supplemented by wild game, which was mixed into the food when available to balance out its nutritional properties and provide a healthy level of protein. However, the subject of beverages is one which still leaves many anthropologists unsure when contemplating the typical Mesoamerican's eating habits. It seems likely that simple collecting rainwater would have been insufficient, despite the wet jungle environs, due in part to the large populations which both cultures managed to support for long periods of time in highly urbanized settings.
Corn as both Food and Beverage
Less well-popularized was the Maya affinity for corn and bean-based drinks. Probably resembling sweetened soymilk in texture and taste, the ancient Maya mashed both maze and beans and liquified them, drinking the concoction as a beverage alternative to water when washing down their meals. We know that the Maya had a bit of a sweet tooth, so we can imagine that sugar or other natural sweeteners were probably added to make the mixture more palatable.
Chocolate Delights
Evidence that the Maya royalty and elite class enjoyed chocolate as a delicacy is abundant; in fact, the Maya were the first to make chocolate into a drink to serve their ruling class. It's safe to assume that the methods those early Mayan cooks stumbled upon to perfect their hot chocolate could also have been applied to making a more delicious bean or corn elixir for the common folk as well.
A Source of Sugar
Although the lands settled by the Maya were perfect for growing cocoa beans - doubly lucky due to the species' unwillingness to flower in most locations - obtaining sugar proved a slightly bigger problem. To create a source of sugar that would allow them to continue developing sweet teas, drinks, cakes, and other culinary delights, the Maya used their ingenuity to domesticate and harvest the product of a tiny indigenous friend: the bee. Archaeological evidence shows that the Maya were the first Mesoamerican culture to develop the practice of beekeeping.
To begin the process by which honey could be used to sweeten Mayan food and drink, cooks would first have to boil the maze or beans that would be used for the base of the drink. Boiling killed bacteria, and the next step, straining the mix and mashing it into a fine paste, removed the possibility that leaves, bugs, or other contaminants like raw seeds would make it through into the final product. The resulting material would be boiled again in a fresh pot of water to thin it, and the beekeeper's honey gradually added, while the boiling liquid was stirred to ensure the honey distributed equally.
As honey was a common ingredient used in Maya cooking, one might be tempted to consider what kind of confection first introduced them to the wonders of sweetening all sorts of foodstuffs. Was it a pot of prepared sweet tea with some maize accidentally boiled into the mix? Whatever it was, the cultivation of both bees and corn stand as tributes to the unparalleled ingenuity of the Maya. Two thousand years before the first Egyptian bowed down before the Sun-god, Mesoamericans were toiling away on their maize farms, building the seeds of one of history's greatest and most mysterious empires.
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Onejungle.com has plenty of useful and fun information on the ancient Mayans. Try Mayan History and Mayan Ruins to find out more.
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