The pre-Hispanic foods of Mexico were similar for most of the indigenous inhabitants of the region and, in many cases, they were used for religious worship. However, food was closely linked to the availability of resources that each civilization had in the area where they lived.
Mesoamerican civilizations had access to better foods thanks to the variety of specimens found in the jungle, lakes and rivers. Aridoamerican civilizations, nomadic by nature, used the resources provided by the desert and the arid areas where they lived.
Some types of food were common throughout the American continent due to their abundance and were consumed by all civilizations, but others grew in some particular regions; this meant that they were only included in the menus of a few civilizations.
In Aridoamerica
The Aridoamerican tribes based their diet on agriculture and hunting. Their options were slightly more limited than those of tribes with access to jungle or water hunting; however, they had a fairly elaborate diet.
Like the Mesoamerican tribes, their main food was corn. The ease with which it is grown and the abundance of it throughout the Mexican territory made it an indispensable food for the tribes that inhabited this region.
The few tribes that were not nomadic had to water their crops quite frequently, as the Arido-American zone had little rainfall throughout the year. Without human irrigation, it would have been impossible to grow food.
The tribes of this region had access to other types of animals given their geographical location: they hunted bears and deer. In the nearby rivers and lakes, these tribes relied on fishing for food: the consumption of fish, as well as hunting ducks, was a fundamental part of the diet for the Aridoamerican tribes.
Accessories
What they ate used to be accompanied by all kinds of natural supplements to enrich the diet of the natives. Acorns, herbs and plant roots with nutritional properties created an ideal nutritional balance for the tribes of arid climates.
In addition, the natives used to grind acorns to produce acorn flour. Based on this they could prepare bread, with which they accompanied their meals.
The women of the tribe were in charge of collecting wild fruits and plants such as cactus. They also collected small seeds with high nutritional value that they used in meals to supplement their diets.
One of the main reasons that the aborigines of the region collected the cactus was for its fruit. The saguaro was widely consumed in this region, given the high availability of cacti that grew in Aridoamérica.
In Mesoamerica
The diet of the Mesoamerican tribes was much richer and more extensive than that of their Arido-American counterparts. The jungles not only provided a greater variety of animals for hunting, but also many more fruits, roots and plants with nutritional value that enriched the diet of the natives.
The first Spanish explorers who arrived in the region could notice the great variety of dishes that were prepared for the emperors, particularly that of the great Aztec Empire. The dishes also had a unique color for the time, which was achieved naturally through the use of colorants such as onoto.
It is important to note that, although the dishes they prepared had a certain level of complexity, the diet of the natives was limited to the resources available in the region. There was no complex exchange of goods: this practice began to be carried out after colonial times.
Cereals
Most cultures worldwide have used a staple food in all their meals. For the Mesoamerican aborigines, this food was grains, particularly cereal grains, such as corn. In fact, corn had such a level of importance that it was used as a tribute to the gods.
Corn was prepared in various ways, but mainly it was turned into dough and later prepared other types of meals, accompanied by various ingredients. In addition, they worked the corn in a process that made it easy to grind and also made it a much more nutritious food.
They used to consume it as a solid (in the form of bread) or even liquid, as a drink. Corn was the main food of Mesoamerican civilizations and was present in almost all their meals.
Fruits and vegetables
Vegetables and fruits supplemented the corn-based diet of the aborigines. The consumption of pumpkin was very common, as was the consumption of vegetable herbs to reduce stomach problems.
The aborigines used to make stews and accompany them with ground grains. The combinations of foods depended on the time of year, as the availability of crops varied in relation to the calendar.
The use of vegetables was quite extensive in Mesoamerican cultures. Her diet also included tomatoes, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and jicamas, among many other foods.
Meat and fish
The consumption of red meat was not extensive in Mesoamerica; This was mainly due to the lack of large animals in the region. However, these civilizations ate domesticated animals such as turkeys, ducks, and dogs.
Normally they only consumed these animals in special feasts, when they fattened them until they could not be, and then killed and eaten. Specifically in the Mayan culture, the turkey was considered a feast animal.
Tropical fish, lobsters, manatees, and other types of shell animals were considered an important source of nutrients. Its consumption was common in the empires of the Mayas and the Aztecs.
References
- Mexico and Central America, Precolumbian; Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, 2003. Taken from encyclopedia.com
- Pre-Columbian Mexican Cuisine: 300 Meals a Day to Choose From, May, October 8, 2013. Taken from inside-mexico.com
- Food Habits of some Pre-Columbian Mexican Indians, EO Callen, 1965. Taken from jstor.org
- Pre-Columbian Cuisine, Wikipedia in English, February 6, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
- Pima Tribe, Native Indian Tribe Index, (nd). Taken from warpaths2peacepipes.com