The diet of the Zapotecs was centered on characteristic foods of the Mesoamerican region such as corn, beans and squash. The Zapotecs are a pre-Columbian culture belonging to the state of Oxaca in Mexico, and to the south of the state of Puebla. They were one of the most important pre-Columbian civilizations in Mesoamerica.
The name comes from Nahuatl and means people of the clouds. They thought that they came directly from the clouds as divine envoys of the gods.
Zapotec vase
Its largest settlement was Monte Albán, an architectural complex made up of stepped pyramids. These pyramids are engraved in the stone with representations of dancers and ball games.
The Zapotecs devised two calendars to measure time, the first, Iza, had 365 days and was grouped into 18 months. This calendar organization was used to control crops. The other calendar they devised, Piye, had 260 days organized in 13 months, and was used to name newborns.
The foods of Zapotec nutrition
farming
The plant and animal variety of the Mesoamerican area, provided its inhabitants with great sources of food. In addition, the Zapotecs developed the cultivation of corn by creating large fields of cultivation.
The agricultural systems that used the most was the terrace system. In the valleys they built dams and irrigation canals.
Its development of agriculture was one of the most extensive of the time and supported numerous villages. This boom in agriculture also helped to develop its economy with the rest of the towns.
The main tool they used for their crops was the seeding stick. This sowing culture allowed them to develop corn, beans and squash, which were the basic products of their diet.
In addition, other crops that they produced, although to a lesser extent, were bananas, chickpeas, peas (peas), sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes), garlic and onions.
Other species that the Zapotecs also appreciated in their gastronomy were tomatoes, chilacayotes (a kind of pumpkin), chayotes (in other cultures it is known as Chuchu), quelites (edible wild herbs), pumpkin flowers and mushrooms. The mushrooms consumed them in any way, were they edible or hallucinogenic.
Some varieties of tubers that complemented their diet were chinchayote (the root of the chayotera), sweet potato (sweet potatoes), guacamote (yucca) and jicama (onion-like tubers).
To all these products that they produced with their harvests, we must add the quantity of fruits that they collected from the trees, such as papayas, plums, pitayas, custard apples, wild grapes, tamarind, guava, avocados and peanuts.
Another of the things that abounded in their diet, as in central and southern America, was the use of cocoa.
With cocoa they made chocolate drinks, although they did not resemble the ones we have today, but rather they were bitter. Chia seeds were also used to make drinks and oil.
Hunting
The Zapotecs were not only vegetarians, but they were also a hunting people with which they supplemented their diet with the characteristic animals of the region.
The proteins complemented the large amount of vegetables they obtained from the earth. The most abundant animals in the area were small wild animals such as weasels, mole badgers, raccoons…
Birds like ducks were also abundant. And they included in their diet animals that today seem unthinkable to us such as monkeys, armadillos, iguanas and snakes.
Elaborated dishes
With all these foods, the Zapotecs made delicious dishes that supported the entire tribe. Among the typical dishes, appetizers or hors d'oeuvres stand out.
This variety of dishes has succulent recipes such as tamales wrapped in banana leaves, tortillas, tlayudas with a seat and corn chips.
Tamales are typical dishes that have survived to this day. They consist of some meat, along with vegetables wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed or cooked on the fire.
The tortillas, the Zapotecs used them as bread to accompany most of their dishes. They are made with corn flour, one of the main crops that the Zapotecs produced.
Tlayudas are another type of corn tortillas, but with a larger diameter than normal ones and they are only used in the Oxaca regions, where the Zapotecs came from.
The seat they refer to in the recipe is the fat from the pork, which is used like butter to prepare this recipe. Corn topotos are the nachos we know today.
On special occasions, the Zapotecs had special dishes that they cooked. Among them are black, red or yellow mole, jerky, cat broth, entomatado, corn and garnacha quesadilla.
Mole is a sauce made from chili peppers. Depending on which chili we use, it can be one mole or another.
The jerky is a piece of meat, usually beef, that is smoked similar to Spanish jerky.
Cat broth is a vegetable, chickpea and chili soup. It is known by that name because sometimes a small animal was added that was easy to catch.
The entomatado consisted of making a tomato and chili sauce to some type of meat that they could hunt.
The corn quesadilla used corn tortillas and filled them with corn and cheese. And the garnachas are also corn tortillas, but thicker and accompanied by meat cooked in sauce and chili peppers.
The Zapotecs also used sweet dishes in their kitchen such as pancakes, egg omelettes and chickpeas in panela sweet.
References
- CASE, Alfonso. Mixtec and Zapotec cultures. El Nacional binding editions, 1942.
- CASE, Alfonso. Calendar and writing of the ancient cultures of Monte Albán. Cooperativa Talleres Gráf. of the Nation, 1947.
- MARCUS, Joyce; FLANNERY, Kent V.; SANTANA, Jorge Ferreiro. The Zapotec civilization: how urban society evolved in the Valley of Oaxaca. Economic Culture Fund, 2001.
- DE VÁSQUEZ COLMENARES, Ana María Guzmán. Oaxacan gastronomic traditions. publisher not identified, 1982.
- DE LA MORA, Dulce María Espinosa. Indigenous gastronomic sample. 2011.
- FROM THE NORTH, America; SOUTH, America. Oaxaca, the town of the clouds.