All about the ancient tribes
The Aztecs relied heavily on maize for their nutrition. They ate and drank a wide variety of dishes and beverages made from maize. One of the dishes that were developed from maize was called a tortilla and it is a type of flat bread that is still quite popular in Mexico today.
Food was very straightforward for the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. In addition to vegetables like beans and squashes, maize was the primary staple item in their diet. Potatoes and a small grain known as quinoa were two crops that the Incas were well-known for cultivating.
While the Aztecs were in control, they cultivated vast tracts of land. Corn, beans, and squash were the three most important foods in their diet. They added chiles and tomatoes to these ingredients. They also obtained Acocils, a crayfish-like organism that can be found in abundance in Lake Texcoco, as well as Spirulina algae, which they used to make Spirulina cakes.
In addition to maize, beans, and squash, Aztecs frequently incorporated chilies, nopales, and tomatoes in their diets. All of these ingredients continue to play an important role in the modern Mexican diet.
Beans and corn were staples in the Aztec diet for the vast majority of the population. It was insects, such as ants and grasshoppers, and occasionally worms, that provided the majority of the protein for them. Beans were typically served as a side dish with an Aztec dinner, which consisted of anywhere from two to three tortillas on average.
An assortment of domestic items, including as pottery, bone needles, obsidian blades, musical instruments fashioned from human and canine bones, the bone of a carved deer, and the bones of turkeys and dogs that were used as meals, have been discovered in the region. The Aztecs did, in fact, consume dog meat.
The marketplaces of Tenochtitlan offered a variety of options for hungry Aztecs, including merchants offering tacos packed with vegetables (beans, squash, tomato, nopal cactus), meat (dog, rabbit, turkey, eggs), and even the unusual abundance of the lake itself (water-insects, amphibians, algae).
Although fruit and vegetables made up a significant portion of the Aztec diet, they also consumed a wide range of fish and wild animals. Food was obtained from a wide variety of animals, including rabbits, birds, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, green iguanas, pocket gophers, and insects, as well as the eggs and larvae of the insects.
Over an open flame was how the Aztecs prepared their meals. When they wanted to boil anything or make a stew, they would suspend cooking pans over the fire in the hearth. Tamales and other foods were also steamed by them.
Pulque is an alcoholic beverage that was initially consumed by the Maya, Aztecs, Huastecs, and other tribes in ancient Mesoamerica. It is derived from the Spanish word for ″pulque.″ It is created from the fermented juice or sap of the maguey plant, in a manner similar to beer (Agave americana).
Tomatoes, both red and green, as well as white sweet potatoes, jicama (a kind of turnip), chayote (vegetable pear), nopal cactus, and peanuts were all planted during this time period.However, the tomatoes were considerably smaller than the present varieties.Guavas, papayas, custard apples, mamey, zapotes, and chirimoyas were just few of the various kinds of fruit that the Aztecs were known to cultivate.
The Aztecs ingested maize in a variety of forms, the most frequent of which were in the shape of tortillas and tamales, as well as tlli (a type of hot drink that was typically flavored with vanilla and cinnamon), and a type of porridge. All of these are still available in Mexico today, although tamales and tortillas are particularly common there.
The Aztecs also grew gardens of avocados, chilies, tomatoes, onions, amaranth, cashews, peanuts, sweet potatoes, jimaca, and numerous types of cactus in addition to these principal crops. The common people of Aztec society had primarily vegetarian fare that was occasionally augmented with meat or fish.
In addition to vegetables like beans and squash, corn (sometimes spelled maize) served as the primary staple item in their diet. Potatoes and a very fine grain known as quinoa were two of the most prevalent crops cultivated by the Incas. In addition to a vast range of fruits, the Aztecs and Maya were known to choose avocados and tomatoes as their primary sources of nutrition.