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Huatulco, San Miguel de Allende

The Role of Horses in the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

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By Jan Chaiken and Marcia Chaiken—

When Hernán Cortés and his expeditionary force first arrived near present-day Veracruz in 1519, the ships from Spain carried about 500 soldiers, along with horses, cannons, and other military supplies. At that time, horses had been extinct in Mesoamerica for thousands of years. As a result, the Indigenous Aztecs—who had never seen similar animals—experienced awe, fear, and confusion, with some early accounts suggesting that the horse and rider were perceived as a single, unfamiliar being. Some Indigenous communities reportedly made offerings to horses or used captured horses as sacrifices to their gods.

The Spaniards capitalized on this reaction by staging carefully choreographed military demonstrations to intimidate the population. Mounted conquistadores proved to be a highly effective military force against native foot soldiers. They were deployed in formations now known as cavalry—large mounted units capable of pursuing and overtaking enemies on foot. Horses were also used to transport cargo and supplies, as well as to control and move captured Aztecs. As soon as new territory was secured, the Spanish established horse-breeding farms in preparation for future expeditions.

Cortés quickly recognized that the ruling Aztec Triple Alliance was deeply resented by many of its subjects and that other Indigenous groups were long-standing enemies of the Aztecs. He formalized alliances first with the Totonacs near the Gulf Coast and later, inland, with the Tlaxcaltecs. The Tlaxcaltecs became loyal and indispensable allies, supplying tens of thousands of warriors. In return, they were granted key privileges, including the right to ride Spanish horses, carry Spanish weapons, and continue governing their own settlements autonomously.

When the Spanish first entered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, the Tlaxcaltecs accompanied them on horseback and helped take hostages, including the ruler Moctezuma II. The Aztecs revolted and rapidly adopted tactics and technology to counter the horses’ advantages. They lured cavalry into narrow causeways, mountain trails, or swampy areas, fired stones and arrows at horses as well as riders, and developed specific shouts and whistles to signal tactical opportunities.

After the eventual Spanish conquest, Indigenous people incorporated horses into their cultures, using them for transportation and labor. Even today, in Mayan communities such as Todos Santos in Guatemala, residents maintain elaborate—and sometimes dangerous—traditions of drunken horse racing, which they consider an important cultural expression.

While the conquistadors’ use of horses in war against the Aztecs is highly dramatic and graphically portrayed in films and books, horses and other livestock brought by the Spanish may also have introduced a far more lethal, invisible agent—Salmonella enterica. Some historians argue that Europeans brought fatal diseases to the New World, including smallpox. Recent DNA analysis has shown that one of the most widespread diseases to wipe out vast numbers of Aztecs and other Indigenous people in Mexico was caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica. The disease wreaked havoc on the digestive systems of those infected and was often lethal among populations with no prior exposure. The bacteria spread through food and water contaminated with fecal matter—often originating from livestock, including horses. It may be that horses themselves were among the most powerful, if unwitting, agents of conquest in Mexico.

Image: Hernán Cortés received by emissaries of Tlaxcala, Codex Duran, 1579, Biblioteca Nacional de de España. Source: Noticonquista Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Drs. Marcia and Jan Chaiken have been married for 62 years and have published many justice system research reports together.

 

Huatulco

How Food Inspired Colonialism in the 15th Century

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By Raveen Singh

It’s amazing to think that the spices sitting quietly in our kitchens today were once rare treasures. Coriander, oregano, or even sea salt — things we take for granted — were, centuries ago, expensive luxuries. They were used as currency, to pay taxes, and even as dowries. They triggered piracy, battles, wars, and ultimately centuries of European colonialism and conquest — along with slavery, exploitation, and the destruction of entire societies.

Here’s how the craving for flavor reshaped the world.

Before the Rise of the Ottoman Empire

Before the 13th century, the world was broadly divided into East and West. The Far East — today’s India, Southeast Asia, and China — was separated from Europe by the Middle East. When the Roman Empire collapsed around 500 CE, Europe fragmented into feudal states, a period often called the Dark Ages.

Yet Rome had left behind one lasting habit: a taste for luxuries from the East. Silk, tea, and, above all, spices continued to flow westward along the Silk Road. Overland routes passed through Persia, Iraq, and Turkey before reaching Mediterranean traders. Arab merchants controlled the trade, selling Chinese silk, Indian spices, precious metals, and even horses at enormous markups.

Spices were so valuable they were treated like money. A pound of saffron could cost as much as a horse. In 1393, nutmeg was valued at seven fat oxen. Peppercorns were used to pay taxes and tolls; towns kept their accounts in pepper. Brides received pepper in their dowries. Charlemagne even ordered farmers to grow herbs like fennel, sage, thyme, and coriander.

The Silk Road carried more than goods — it spread religions, art, technology, and ideas. By the 13th century, explorers like Marco Polo described the spice-rich lands of Java, India’s Malabar Coast, and the South China Sea, fueling Europe’s hunger for direct access.

The Ottoman Roadblock

When Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, everything changed. The empire imposed heavy tariffs on goods passing through its lands. Maritime choke points like the Eastern Mediterranean and the Suez were also under Ottoman control. For Christian Europe, spices became harder and costlier to obtain.The solution?

Find another route.

Portugal’s Push Around Africa

Portugal led the way. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, proving the Atlantic and Indian Oceans were connected. Vasco da Gama reached India a decade later, opening the door to a direct maritime spice route.

The Portuguese established forts and outposts along Africa and into Asia, powered by advances in navigation and shipbuilding. By the mid-1500s, Lisbon had become a hub for Asian spices, its empire stretching all the way to Nagasaki.

Spain’s New World Accident

Spain, emerging from the Reconquista in 1492, turned to exploration as well. That same year, Christopher Columbus — sailing west in search of Asia — stumbled instead on the Americas. The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Spain and Portugal, with Spain claiming the western lands and Portugal much of the east.

Soon after, Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs, seizing gold and introducing Europe to new flavors like vanilla. Spanish conquests spread rapidly across the Americas, shifting focus from trade to colonization.

A Naval Race for Flavor

By the 16th century, five powers — Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, and the Netherlands — were racing to control trade routes. All relied on naval supremacy. For about 150 years, the Americas consumed much of their attention, but the spice trade remained the golden prize.

Portugal grew rich, but by the late 1500s, its overstretched empire came under attack from the Dutch, British, and French. Spain, flush with silver and gold from the New World, shifted its energy westward.

What tied them all together was the same obsession: the pursuit of flavor.

The Global Consequences

What began as a quest for pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg reshaped the globe. European empires carved up territories, enslaved millions, and wiped out entire societies in their hunger for spices, silk, tea, and gold.

Seen this way, the Age of Exploration wasn’t just about adventure or discovery. It was about dinner. The next time you grind pepper onto your steak, remember: wars were fought, empires rose and fell, and lives were lost for that tiny spice. The flavors we sprinkle casually today once carried the weight of empires — and their shadows still shape our world.

 

Huatulco

The Aztecs: Stories Behind the Legendary People

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By Carole Reedy

Two of the greatest civilizations on our planet originated in Mexico: the Mayan and the Aztec. The Mayan civilization of the present-day Yucatán area dates back as early as 2000 BCE. The Aztec civilization, centered around present-day Mexico City, emerged later, about 1325 CE until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s.

The Aztec people and culture are among the most recognizable, and yet most mysterious, subjects of today’s Mexican culture. Most contemporary people have heard the tales of fierce Aztecs, their magnificent pyramids, and a culture of sacrifice.

To understand more, a visit to Mexico City is essential. It will allow you to enter the core of Aztec life, enhancing your understanding of their society.

Start with a visit to the center of the Aztec city Tenochtitlán (our present-day zócalo). Here you’ll feel the open-air expanse of the ancient city, surrounded now by 16th century Spanish architecture.

Imagine the streets as canals and the somber 16th century Spanish Cathedral as a grand colorful pyramid. Visit the Templo Mayor, home of the Aztecs’ largest pyramid. A must-see museum packed with treasures accompanies the site.

Remarkably, the pyramid ruins weren’t discovered until 1978, when electricians, diligently working in the city center, happened upon the 500-year-old Aztec wealth. All construction immediately halted. Archeologists stepped in, and they have been excavating ever since. To this day they are uncovering riches of the Aztecs that help us understand their culture and daily life. For details of the actual discovery and excavation, read Life and Death in the Templo Mayor (1995) by Eduardo Matos Montezuma who directed the excavation project.

The Templo Mayor was destroyed in 1521 by the Spanish, the rubble and stones reused to build Spanish structures like the cathedral. This practice continued throughout Mexico after the Spanish invasion. The first item on Cortés’ agenda when conquering a city was to build a cathedral.

Storytelling is an effective way to pass on a people’s history. With a variety of viewpoints, we can synthesize facts, observations, and feelings to understand a culture not our own. There’s a wealth of information and many books, both fiction and nonfiction, in which to discover more about the enigmatic Aztecs. Here are several reading suggestions that dispel some myths and reinforce the importance of the Aztecs in the overall scheme of this most significant of countries and civilizations.

Most of the stories below come from the points of view of the Azteca, rather than the traditional Spanish versions we are accustomed to hearing.

When Moctezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History, by Matthew Restall (2018)
This is a well-researched and exquisitely written account of the August first meeting between the Aztec leader Moctezuma and the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Backed up by pages of reputable references, Restall paints a strikingly complex picture of the Aztecs and their encounters with the Spanish. Although the references are scholarly, Restall writes in an accessible style. He paints a vivid portrait of the Aztecs and especially the family of Moctezuma in their daily lives.

Beyond his focus on the meeting itself, Restall analyzes the tactics of the Spanish during their journey from Veracruz to Tenochtitlán (our Mexico City) as well as the long days they spent in the city. He also examines the outlying native societies and their relationship with both the Aztecs and the Spanish, providing a fresh look at exactly who defeated the Aztecs.

Restall also takes a closer look at Hernán Cortés, offering a different aspect of the man who enjoyed basking in the limelight. The views of the King of Spain and of other conquistadors, which can be found in Bernal Díaz de Castillo’s tome (see below), provide a more realistic profile of the conquistador.

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, by Camilla Townsend (2019)
Camilla Townsend is a Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers University. She is a winner of multiple prizes over the years for her impressive research and conclusions.

Fifth Sun is the story of the Aztecs in their own words. Before the invasion of the Europeans, these native people had their own history, which is related to us thanks to Townsend’s research and determination.

Also notable is Townsend’s The Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive (2016).

After receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, she began looking at the Nahua, one of the Aztec peoples, in their own language. Spanish friars had taught the Nahua the Latin alphabet so they could read the Bible, thus paving the way for their conversion to Christianity.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1568; tr. Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey, 2012)
This well-regarded conquistador’s account of his many years in North America must be considered despite its inaccuracies, since this is only one of two first-hand accounts of the overthrow of the Aztecs.

“We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” is the famous quote for which Díaz can take credit. Despite the intent, many of the conquistadors themselves did not walk away with anywhere near the riches they had hoped to attain.

Díaz wrote the memoirs 30 years after the conquest and later refined and expanded them. He found the biographies and other sources glorifying Cortés’s efforts to be highly inaccurate. His observations of the new land and its people are described in detail, which adds a much-needed human touch to the volume and this significant time in Latin-American history.

Díaz had participated in other expeditions, among them in Cuba and the Yucatán, before his lengthy time with Cortés. He lived a long life, dying in Guatemala in 1584 at the ripe old age of 92.

If you are learning Spanish, this is a good book to start reading in your new language. The prose is forthright, you know something of the subject, and the grammar is not complicated.

During your visit to the Templo Mayor be sure to stop and read the long quotes from Bernal Díaz and Cortés that are inscribed on huge slabs of concrete overlooking the ruins.

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla (1568; tr. Lysander Kemp, 2006)
Eyewitness accounts of the Aztecs told to Spanish friars in the 1500s make this one of the most significant resources for understanding Aztec society.

This book was first published in 1959 and has undergone several revisions and printings. It has been widely translated–into English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, and Japanese, among other languages.

Leon-Portilla, a renowned historian and anthropologist, is known for his numerous books and research into the Azteca.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1568; tr. Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey, 2012)
This well-regarded conquistador’s account of his many years in North America must be considered despite its inaccuracies, since this is only one of two first-hand accounts of the overthrow of the Aztecs.

“We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” is the famous quote for which Díaz can take credit. Despite the intent, many of the conquistadors themselves did not walk away with anywhere near the riches they had hoped to attain.

Díaz wrote the memoirs 30 years after the conquest and later refined and expanded them. He found the biographies and other sources glorifying Cortés’s efforts to be highly inaccurate. His observations of the new land and its people are described in detail, which adds a much-needed human touch to the volume and this significant time in Latin-American history.

Díaz had participated in other expeditions, among them in Cuba and the Yucatán, before his lengthy time with Cortés. He lived a long life, dying in Guatemala in 1584 at the ripe old age of 92.

If you are learning Spanish, this is a good book to start reading in your new language. The prose is forthright, you know something of the subject, and the grammar is not complicated.

During your visit to the Templo Mayor be sure to stop and read the long quotes from Bernal Díaz and Cortés that are inscribed on huge slabs of concrete overlooking the ruins.

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla (1568; tr. Lysander Kemp, 2006)
Eyewitness accounts of the Aztecs told to Spanish friars in the 1500s make this one of the most significant resources for understanding Aztec society.

This book was first published in 1959 and has undergone several revisions and printings. It has been widely translated–into English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, and Japanese, among other languages.

Leon-Portilla, a renowned historian and anthropologist, is known for his numerous books and research into the Azteca.

Huatulco

The Venice of the New World

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By Raveen Singh

The year is 1325. According to a myth, a nomadic tribe moved into an area previously occupied by several other tribes, with the intent to settle. As such, a King of the existing tribe offers his daughter’s hand in marriage to the incoming nomads.

The Nomads, the Sacrifice, and the Lake

The nomadic tribe receives the young woman and prepares her for marriage in accordance with their customs. Then five men lead her to the top of a stone cairn, where a slab of rock awaits. They lay her down and hold her, one man per limb. The fifth man lifts a piece of obsidian over his head and plunges it into her heart, reaching in and ripping it out with his bare hands. Later that night, at a presentation for the King, they wore her glistening skin as they performed a ceremonial dance.

Once the King realized what had been done, he was clearly angered. Legend has it that he ordered the nomads to be destroyed, a chase ensued, and the nomads plunged themselves to safety in Lake Tenochtitlan. On an island in that lake, the nomads saw a vision: an eagle perched on a cactus eating a snake. This was a sign to the nomadic tribe to settle there; they called themselves the Mexica.

The Nomads Settle Down and Build

The Mexica, later called the Aztecs, were forced to adapt to their new inherited island in the middle of a large saline lake surrounded by four other freshwater lakes. To settle this area, found by chance but validated by their deity, would require feats of engineering far ahead of the times.

The lake beds comprise extremely soft soils, incapable of supporting heavy structures such as houses, roads, buildings, bridges, or most importantly, temples. The Aztecs somehow figured out how to drive piles into the muck, which contained fill to provide support for building a temple. Now known as the Templo Mayor, it was the central focal point of the new settlement.

Causeways. Initially, the only access to the area was via water and canoes. The Aztecs then required access to the mainland, so they placed fill into the soft lake beds. The fill would settle out of sight into the soft substrate, the Aztecs drove an array wood piles into the fill, and created the basis for building roads. Because all the construction materials were placed by human hands, as the Aztecs had no animals to help with the tasks, they made every effort to reduce the materials requiring transport. Eventually, using the fill-and-piling method, they constructed five causeways to link the mainland to the Templo Mayor.

The settlement, called Tenochtitlan, was centralized around the Templo Mayor, and the Aztecs realized that the obstacle that they had to surmount was also the very thing that provided them security – the lake itself.

Chinampas. As the settlement grew, they realized that their food supply required security against hostile invading tribes and the Aztecs eventually perfected the use of chinampas (floating gardens) as a means of ensuring a stable large-scale cultivated food supply. The chinampas were made of interwoven reeds with stakes beneath the surface of the water, creating underwater fences. Atop these mats, they added lake sediment mixed with aquatic vegetation until the top layer was above the surface. This type of construction would ensure that the crops would always have a water supply, requiring minimal maintenance.

Drainage, Dikes, and Canals. The Mexica also developed a multipurpose drainage system, which comprised a ditch for the flow of water and sediment (which likely included human waste) that would in turn be used in the development of new chinampas. Because of the biological diversity of the introduced sediment and the use of lake-bed sediments, the bacterial community was diverse, thus supporting virtually every type of crop. With these raised, well-watered beds, the crop yields were very high, permitting up to seven harvests per year. In 2018, the United Nations designated the chinampa system of agriculture a Globally Important Heritage System; it should be noted that it is still in use today.

Construction in a low-lying land such as a lake bed also required advanced techniques to control flooding. An area with impermeable soils and no drainage required a method of ensuring that water levels in the area of habitation were maintained. Dikes, canals and causeways were built as a means of flood control, including a 16-km long dike that held back a portion of Lake Texcoco to prevent seasonal flooding. The Aztecs also built a series of canals through the city to drain the swamplands, and earthen causeways that also served as pedestrian walkways. A series of locks, gates, and sluiceways were built into the system a means of controlling water levels, an engineering feat far ahead of its time.

Aqueducts. Water, the sustenance of life, was also initially a challenge to the Aztec. The waters of the lake at the location were saline and not sustainable for long-term use for humans. The Aztecs found a series of springs on the mainland, and developed an aqueduct to transmit this water to the island city. Initially, water was brought in by canoe, which would have sharply limited the growth of the society.

An Expanding Empire. The aqueduct required negotiations with the adjacent tribe, who required that the Aztecs cede themselves to rule by the mainland tribe. As the Aztec society grew due to prosperous food supply and engineering, they conquered the governing tribe; the governed became the government. It is at this time that the Aztecs underwent a rapid expansion, conquering other tribes such as the Olmecs and Toltecs, and taking their people as workers, slaves, and sacrificial victims. These conquests allowed the Aztecs to preserve their society and expand their empire as far away as Guatemala and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean.

Other systems developed by the Aztecs long before being colonized include the military draft (conscription), and a legal system with judges and trials. Using the cocoa bean as currency, their busiest days in the markets of Tenochtitlan drew some 50,000 people.

The Demise of the Aztecs

In 1521, Hernán Cortés arrived on the Yucatán peninsula and found his way to Veracruz. The indigenous population joined him on his march to the head state of the Aztec Empire. The Spanish were in awe of the progress that the Aztec society had made, which paralleled some of the advanced systems in Europe at the time. The floating gardens and the prominence of the Templo Mayor must have been a sight to the Spanish conquistadors.

Of course, the story of the Spanish and their rapid conquest is full of sadness; the destruction of Aztec society by the Spanish was accomplished through the introduction of disease, advanced weaponry comprising steel, and the use of horses for the height and mobility advantages. Those who are interested are encouraged to read Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond (1999), for a better accounting of how colonizing European armies could so easily conquer the societies they met through exploration.

In a final death blow to the Aztecs empire, all the structures of Tenochtitlan were destroyed and the building materials were dumped into the lake to form the foundation for the new Spanish settlement, called Mexico. The causeways were converted into roadways (still in use today); the aqueducts were destroyed. The Templo Mayor was razed to the ground, and in an act of conquest, the new Spanish cathedral was built atop the old Templo Mayor. This was only discovered in 1978, as a dig for a utility in the area encountered remnants of the old structure. Today, the area is preserved as a tourist attraction in the zócalo in Mexico City, where it is possible to pass under the church and view the Templo Mayor. In less than 200 years, the advancement of the society of the Aztecs can only be described as profound and its demise as tragic.

Montezuma’s Revenge

There are many tales in folklore regarding Montezuma’s revenge; however, this is an obscure one that the old civilization has left behind.

Like many modern cities that are built on marine environments (think Jakarta, Venice, Amsterdam, New Orleans, Bangkok, Kolkata, Tokyo, and even Washington DC), Mexico City underwent an astounding period of growth in the early 20th century, building on its legacy as a capital founded by the Aztecs.

However, the construction on the lake bed has had a lasting impact on modern day Mexico City. The increased weight of the colonial settlement over time has resulted in compression of the soils, and the pumping of water from the subsurface has drawn down the water table. This in turn has reduced pore pressures in the underlying soils, thus increasing the rates of settlement.

It is said that there are places in Mexico City that are settling up to 500 cm per year. This has resulted in buckling of roads, bursting of utilities, and damaged buildings as walls topple and fail. Compounded with earthquakes, the destruction is multiplied; in 1985 the earthquake that struck Mexico City caused widespread devastation, associated in part with soil-structure interaction and poor building foundations. As of the writing of this article, there is no known solution to this long-term problem. The lake, or its remnants, continue to be dewatered as development continues, exacerbating the condition. It is said that in the last century, Mexico City has subsided some 33 feet.

Perhaps Montezuma’s revenge is more profound than modern society ever thought it could be.

Huatulco

Aztec “Farm to Table” Cuisine

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By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

The Aztecs, or as they called themselves, the Mexica, ardently embraced the style of cuisine that we currently call “farm to table.” When they first settled the area that has become Mexico City, the geography was ideal for protection from enemies – swampy land kept flooded by five lakes of brackish water – but was hardly suitable for long-term habitation, much less farming.

The Floating Islands of Mexica Agriculture

The ingenious settlers, as described in detail by Julie Etra in The Eye (February 2023), constructed aqueducts to bring fresh water into the area and rectangular gardening plots, called chinampas, in the lakes (see “The Venice of the West,” elsewhere in this issue). The materials from which the chinampas were constructed provided rich nutrients for growing crops, and the nutrients were replenished naturally by the algae growing in the surrounding water. While the Mexica nobility owned multiple chinampas that were farmed by their servants and captive slaves, the hoi polloi were also granted garden plots, reportedly distributed as one for each family.

Produce from the Chinampas. The primary crop planted on the chinampas was maize – many varieties of corn ranging from almost white to black with a rainbow of colors in between. After the ripe ears were harvested, the kernels were soaked in a home-made clay pot in an alkaline solution of local lime (not the fruit, but limestone, which is composed of organic fossils). The soaking softened the kernels and enriched them with health-enhancing minerals. This process, called nixtamalization, is still used in Mexico today. The corn was then thoroughly washed, dried and ground, always by women, on a grinding slab, or metate, using a stone pestle, or mano. As still happens today, the ground corn was used to make dough (masa) for tortillas or tamales. Corn smut, or huitlacoche, a fungus that grows between the kernels of corn, was harvested and used as a delicacy, as were other naturally occurring edible mushrooms.

Other crops grown on the chinampas were beans, pumpkins and other squash, and many varieties of chiles, including the precursor of the modern-day poblano. Amaranth and chia, both pseudo-grains (actually seeds) were part of the ordinary produce. Small sweet tomatoes were a common crop, as were herbs and spices that were cultivated from wild progenitors such as culantro – a pungent variety of cilantro – and others that are familiar today, including epazote, hoja santa, and annato bushes, which produced achiote. Spices were ground in a stone molcajete using another stone – implements resembling a mortar and pestle. Dishes could also be cooked and served in large molcajetes, and since the stone retains the flavors of spices, subsequent uses of the same implement instantly provided flavor to the dish being prepared.

Fish and Game. While maize prepared in different incarnations was the primary farm-to-family staple, the lakes provided tasty protein supplements. Fish and crustaceans were frequent dietary additions, and algae, especially the blue-green spirulina, were harvested from the water and shaped into nutrient-rich cakes and baked. Wild land animals also were caught and cooked – mainly in casseroles – including iguanas, gophers, salamanders, and the occasional deer that came to eat crops but instead were eaten.

Insects. Particular insects became favorites for adding crunch and flavor to foods. Grasshoppers, or chapulines, were a popular addition and another source of protein. Chicatanas, or flying ants that take to the air after the first spring rains and literally fall from the sky, may have been included as a treat, but their habitat is more closely allied to the Oaxaca area, where the Zapotecs lived, than to the Aztec territory. Prized for their taste and actually farmed in the local waters by the Mexica were the eggs of the water fly, or ahuautle. They are a seasonal treat and most abundant during the summer months; the Aztecs spread woven mats slightly under the water in areas where the flies were known to swarm, and thousands of the tiny golden eggs were deposited and then harvested. Since Montezuma himself was known by the Spanish invaders to have a hankering for this caviar, it became prestigious for a meal to include ahuautle.

Livestock. Animals that are commonly found on farms in Mexico today were not present until the Spanish settlers introduced them, so cattle, goats, and sheep were not on the Aztec menu. The Mexica did domesticate and cook some animals. Ducks and turkeys were additions to the menu primarily for the noble class. But dogs, especially breeds related to today’s chihuahuas, were easy to raise at home and provided a welcome addition to maize-based dishes.

How Did the Mexica Cook and Serve Their Food?

Most dishes were prepared by baking, steaming, and especially stewing in clay casseroles. The addition of ground chiles and salt was ubiquitous. Cooking implements did not include metal pans, nor did the Mexica fry foods in cooking oils. Likewise, there were no metal eating utensils. Tortillas served in baskets were used to scoop up food from a casserole shared among families. And although the cuisine was locally grown and prepared, tables were a European concept. People sat on mats for meals – except the nobility who enjoyed sitting on beautifully carved low benches – however this elevated seating was just for men. The nobility also had very beautiful bowls and pots decorated in multiple colors that can be seen in museums today.

The Spanish Conquest of Aztec Cuisine

The Spanish invasion brought dramatic changes to Aztec cuisine. In addition to introducing small-pox and other diseases that killed off a large proportion of the indigenous population, and large farm animals that no doubt raised the cholesterol in the Mexica diet to dangerously high levels, the Spanish settlers also introduced rice, garlic, cooking oils, and new spices including cinnamon and coriander, greatly altering the everyday cuisine in the Aztec territories.

The importance of their cuisine to the Mexica, especially food containing chiles and salt, can be noted by their frequent religious fasts followed by feasts. Eating was not considered merely a way to survive but a deeply spiritual practice. The consumption of human flesh, the flesh of fallen warriors of enemy tribes, was not, as the Spanish reported, a casual practice of cannibalism, but was bound to sacred rituals. The flesh could only be consumed after cooking by the family of the Mexica warrior who killed the enemy in battle and not by the Mexica warrior himself.

Unlike today, when farm to table cuisine is experienced as a novel way of enjoying a usually delicious albeit rather expensive meal, for the Mexica farm to table cuisine was part of their lives devoted to finding stability in a shifting world.

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Chocolate – Drink of the Gods

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By Randy Jackson

I once won a dessert contest with chocolate-covered cheesecake pierogies. This was a recipe of my own invention that combined influences from Poland (pierogies), Greece (cheesecake), and Mexico (chocolate). It’s the chocolate, I think, that put me over the top. That rich, dark brown, sweet substance, universally beloved, has been around for about four thousand years, but only in its current pierogi-coating form for about 150 years. For most of its history, chocolate was a beverage, served cold, and that is how it was first introduced to Europeans when it was carried back from Mexico at the time of the Spanish Conquest.

Bernal Díaz, who accompanied Cortés in the conquest of Mexico, wrote of a visit to Moctezuma:

From time to time they served him, in cups of pure gold, a certain drink made from cacao. It was said that it gave one power over women, but this I never saw. I did see them bring in more than fifty large pitchers of cacao with froth in it, and he drank some of it, the women serving with great reverence.

The reverence the Aztec held for their cacao (chocolate) drink wasn’t unique to their civilization. Like so much of the Aztec culture, it was something they absorbed from earlier, predecessor civilizations. It was the Maya who elevated the drink into their mythological structure. Some surviving Mayan hieroglyphics report of an annual gathering to give thanks to Ek Chuah, the god of cacao.

This history shouldn’t surprise anyone. Cacao is a natural source of caffeine, and if it were not for our science-sterilized view of the cosmos, we too would have a caffeine god. If Moctezuma were alive today, he’d have a Starbucks card. He’d likely order a latte. I say this because of the length Aztecs would go to create foam in the cacao drink they called xocoatl. An early drawing shows an Aztec woman pouring the cacao drink from above shoulder height into a receptacle. This causes the substance to foam. The foam holds the richest flavor when the bubbles burst in the mouth.

Of course, the xocoatl that Moctezuma and the Aztec elites were served wasn’t the same quality of cacao drink available to soldiers and regular folk. Xocoatl for the elites was made of pure cacao and flavored with highly valued ground and roasted plants and spices. Depending on the flavoring additives, the different xocoatl mixtures had different colors as well.

For the common Aztecs, xocoatl was more diluted and mixed with ground maize (corn). This is similar to a drink called chilate, found today in Oaxaca and elsewhere, including throughout Latin America (recipes vary). Even this lower quality xocoatl was still highly revered by the Aztecs, and was only served on special occasions such as births, feasts, weddings and funerals (which sometimes involved mixing human blood into the drink). Perhaps adding to the esteem in which Aztecs held xocoatl was the knowledge that they were drinking money. Cacao seeds (which required fermentation, roasting, and crushing to make chocolate) were widely used as currency.

It was the earlier Mayan civilization which first began using cacao seeds as currency. In many ways cacao seeds were an ideal currency – light, portable, with the underlying value that it made something of value – chocolate. The use of this currency was a significant contributor to the flourishing of Mayan civilization. Having a currency created a new social class – a merchant class. The use of cacao currency facilitated trade and allowed a wider distribution of wealth beyond the rulers and elites.

The Aztecs also used cacao seeds as currency. The conquering Spanish quickly adopted the cacao seed as currency as well. They used it to set market prices, and in 1555 established an exchange rate between cacao seeds and the Spanish currency, the real. The cacao bean continued to be used as currency as late as 1850, although by then only for small change.

At the same time the cacao bean served as currency, it was also a consumable commodity in both Mesoamerica and Europe. The Jesuits introduced the drink to the Spanish court where it became popular, despite its being an acquired taste. For a time, the drink was seasoned with chilies and spices as the Aztecs had prepared it. This recipe persisted in Spain for about 100 years, but in time, by adding sugar, dropping the spices, and serving it hot, chocolate became a highly popular drink throughout Europe, spreading from the elite classes to the masses.

Chocolate houses flourished throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. These were largely places where the wealthier classes could socialize, to “let their hair down,” you could say, and participate in activities like gambling. Chocolate’s reputation as an aphrodisiac continued from the Aztecs, and that association only added to its popularity. As time went on, the reputation of chocolate houses declined, and they were perceived as places of debauchery.

The industrial revolution brought important changes to chocolate. A cacao press, invented in the Netherlands, separated out the cacao butter, leaving a dry powder, which is cocoa as we know it today. Then cacao butter, first considered a byproduct in this process, was mixed with the coco powder and the beloved chocolate bar was born.

On November 8, 2019, 500 years from the date Cortés met Moctezuma in Tenochtitlán, the descendants of Cortés and Moctezuma met at the exact spot in what is now Mexico City (stories and photos are easily found online; one shows Ascanio Pignatelli, a descendant of Cortés, taking a selfie with a descendant of Moctezuma). Despite reading every article I could find on this meeting, alas, I could not discover whether they shared a cup of chocolate. I hope they did as a fitting tribute to this beverage with such a long and fascinating history – the drink of the gods.

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The Original Buzz-Inducing Elixir

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By Kary Vannice

What could be better than chocolate and wine? How about chocolate wine?

It is a little-known fact that chocolate wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for the early Mesoamericans’ insatiable lust for fermented fruit, and a good buzz. The cocoa tree that grew wild throughout the tropics of what we now know as the Americas was originally sought after for the juicy flesh that surrounds the cocoa seed. Indigenous people found that they could harvest the small, football shaped pods that grew directly from the bark of the tree and create a slightly alcoholic drink to be used in religious ceremonies and celebrations.

In fact, “cocoa wine” was the real motivation to domesticate the cocoa tree. The eventual processing of beans into chocolate became a fortuitous byproduct, but initially was never even considered. Chocolate was only discovered because wasting the leftover beans was unthinkable in a society where all of nature’s sacred gifts were used to their fullest advantage. (See “Chocolate – Drink of the Gods,” elsewhere in this issue for what the ancients did with the seeds.)

Ironically, now that our modern society has developed their own insatiable lust for all things chocolate, the original buzz-inducing elixir is now considered a waste product in the chocolate-making process.

Several years ago at the Mercado Orgánico de Huatulco, I noticed a cocoa vendor displaying an odd assortment of bottles filled with a white, slightly transparent liquid, clearly producing the tiny bubbles that are a hallmark of active fermentation. Curious, I asked him what was in the bottles. He said it was the liquid that came off of the cocoa beans as they were fermenting in the sun, before being dried, roasted and processed into chocolate. Amazed and delighted, knowing the benefits of fermented foods for the health of the human gut, I told him I would buy all the bottles. For me, the novelty of getting to try this mysterious, effervescent juice (and its health benefits) far outweighed the fact that the drink itself might be less than delicious.

I immediately removed the mesh covering on one of the bottles and took a cautious sip, my curiosity getting the better of me. As it turned out, the taste was pleasant, if not sweet, and didn’t taste at all like chocolate. The vendor smiled with delight as he saw my reaction to this newly introduced probiotic. Noticing this, I asked him to tell me more about the fermentation process.

Seeing that I was clearly taken by this discovery, he didn’t pass up the opportunity to share his knowledge with me, from start to finish. He picked up one of the ripe cocoa pods at his fingertips and adeptly sliced it open with this pocketknife, exposing 40-60 tightly packed fleshy, seeds inside. They looked a bit like a fat, ghostly-white corn on the cob, if the kernels were about ten to twenty times as plump.

He proceeded to tell me that chocolate would not have its chocolaty flavor at all if it were not for the process of fermentation. After harvesting the pods and scooping out the seeds, they are packed into containers to ferment for about six to ten days. During this time, yeasts, bacteria, and enzymes break down and ferment the juicy white pulp that surrounds the cacao beans. As this happens, they release a juice referred to as the “sweatings” that is generally tossed out as a waste product.

However, this ingenious farmer, true to his indigenous roots, saw opportunity, not waste, in this bubbly, slightly boozy froth. Fascinated by the agro-history lesson and eager to support his sustainable practices, I told him I would take at least two bottles a week for as long as he could provide them. Sadly, the supply didn’t last long, but the lesson remains.

And now you, too, know that the origins of your favorite chocolate were not chocolate at all, but a fruity fermented wine that dates back to 1400 BC and remains a link between us and the ancient peoples of the Olmec, Aztec and Mayan cultures.

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Body Art: Mexican Tattoos

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By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

Many tourists in Mexico shop for art in tattoo parlors rather than in galleries. Instead of buying a Frida Kahlo poster, or a painting of the Virgin of Guadalupe, or a clay reproduction of an Aztec or Mayan museum piece, they have sketches of these art works indelibly inked into their skin on various parts of their anatomy. Flowers, fish and aphorisms in Spanish are etched into shoulders, backs, hands, breasts and derrieres. Those with a penchant for the Gothic, after more than a few margaritas, may opt for an inking that turns their face into a permanent day-of-the-dead mask. Given the ubiquitous tattoo artists in Mexico and their creativity, the possibilities for transforming human hide into artistic canvasses are virtually endless.

Some Mexican tattoo artists proclaim that they are carrying forward the traditional forms of art practiced by their Aztec, Mayan or other indigenous ancestors. To incise the skin and insert dyes, they use natural materials such as sharpened bones or plant spines. Many of their designs are images of artifacts readily visible in the National Museum of Anthropology. The assertion that there has been an unbroken chain of generations of indigenous tattoo artists seems to be as much a romantic story as an archeological fact.

The study of tattoos by archeologists has long been a rather neglected and, at times, disparaged approach. Recently however, as the art of tattooing has become more accepted, the study of tattoos has gained wider respectability. The firmest archeological evidence of the use of tattoos is the appearance of colored incisions on the skin of mummies. The earliest tattooed mummy found so far dates back over 5000 years and was unearthed, or perhaps the better term is un-iced, from under a glacier in the Italian-Austrian Alps. This “iceman” had over 60 tattoos colored with charcoal. However, based on the positions of the incisions, archeologists hypothesize that the tattoos were applied to alleviate pain, much as acupuncture is used, rather than for artistic reasons.

Mummified bodies bearing tattoos have been discovered on virtually every continent, with the exception of Antarctica. In Mexico, a mummy bearing tattoos on her arms was discovered in the state of Oaxaca in 1889, and scientific analysis has found that she lived sometime around 250 AD. Although the tattoos on the earliest dated mummies can be quite complex, anthropologists have postulated that the primary purposes of the tattoos were other than simply artistic decorations. Some appear to denote tribal affiliation, others were used to ward off demonic or other evil powers, and many appear to be symbols of owners who claimed slaves as their property. Seagoing communities seem to have used tattoos, much as relatively more modern sailors, as individually distinctive marks that could be used to identify bodies lost overboard that washed up on near or distant shores.

Another method of studying the use of and regional differences in tattooing is based on the examination of prehistoric or pre-Columbian figurines painted with tattoo-like marks. Anthropomorphic statutes or pots bearing such designs are considered to provide representations of similar designs incised into the skin of people who lived in the communities where the artifacts were produced. Hollow ceramic figurines with extensive tattoo designs have been found in tombs in Mexico that date from 100 BC to 400 AD; the figurines are hypothesized to represent the people with tattoos who were buried in the tombs. These tattoos are thought to be marks portraying status and ideology rather than simply artistic decorations.

During the period of the early European geographic expeditions and colonization, the writings of the explorers paid detailed attention to the tattoos of the indigenous people they encountered. The English word “tattoo” and the Spanish word “tatuaje” are derived from Cook’s descriptions of patterns borne by the South Pacific Islanders he encountered and the Samoan term for how the patterns were created: “tatau,” or “hit” or “strike.” Europeans who first explored Mexico were quite taken by the tattoos used by different cultures and communities. Some were literally impressed with the designs and returned home with tattoos. But indigenous tattooing was almost obliterated in Mexico and around the world by the European usurpers who repressed all native forms of customs and practices as being barbaric and heathen. The repression of tattoos lasted for centuries.

When we were children, tattoos were still rare and exotic. Circus sideshows sometimes had a “tattooed lady” on display; and for 25 cents we could gawk at her inked designs until it was time to move on to the “bearded lady.” Sailors started to return after War World II with anchors or stars tattooed on their biceps. But whether Christian, Muslim or Jew, we were told that tattoos were body mutilation, and therefore, forbidden. It took courage or imprisonment to reject this strong norm and become inked.

Today, tattooing has once again become ubiquitous. There are virtually countless places in Mexico to be tattooed. In the large cities of Mexico there are tattoo conventions and tattoo competitions. But once again the use of tattoos is not always merely decorative. Among drug cartels and other organized criminal subcultures, tattoos are often used to display group affiliation – and the wrong tattoo in the wrong setting can be fatal.

Many people who have opened parlors with the latest technology for producing tattoos consider themselves artists with the creative license to provide a wide spectrum of designs. And their clients are delighted to work with them to find the perfect design for almost every part of their anatomy. But before you head out to find your perfect design you might consider the following.

Tattooing is painful … think about a paper cut and then multiply that sensation for every incision. Tattoos are permanent – the cute little rosebud on a perky young butt often turns into a wilted, wrinkled flower in middle age. In the wrong hands, tattoos can be dangerous; our granddaughter’s unauthorized butterfly tattoo turned into a staph infection. There is still a prejudice against tattoos in some circles and that may be a circle possibly important to you in future years.

If you want to try a tattoo on for size, you might consider the temporary type – also widely available in Mexico. Henna tattoos are offered on many beaches in Mexico and gradually fade away; just be sure you don’t have a henna allergy. And inked paper in many designs can be safely applied and easily washed away. They look so real that we suspected our daughter was having some form of crisis after seeing multicolored flowers circling her wrist, until we realized that, rather than a crisis, she had had an interesting vacation.