What was the Influence of Aztecs food on Mexican food?

Answer 1

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE!!!


When Hernando Cortez and his men marched into Mexico City they found an advanced Aztec culture that included a cuisine based on many local ingredients. Emperor Montezuma, ruler of the Aztec people, enjoyed a drink made of cacao beans, vanilla, and honey, all native ingredients. The Spanish conquistadors were so taken with the drink, they exported it back to Spain, and a world addiction to chocolate was born. The Mexican cacao tree and vanilla orchid were both native plants in the area. So were corn, (maize), beans, and peppers, which much of the Aztec cuisine was based on. In fact, corn and beans are cornerstones of the Mexican foods.

The history of Mexican food ingredients as we know them dates back to 1519 and the arrival of Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes in Mexico, which later resulted in the Conquest of Mexico in 1521. The arrival of Cortes marks a collision of cultures that resulted in the combining of Spanish and Aztec flavors and ingredients that eventually led to the creation of the foods we are familiar with today. Spanish influences on Mexican food ingredients include meats, citrus fruits, garlic, cheese, milk, and wine. Mexican food ingredients that came from the Aztecs include beans, corn, and squash. Through the centuries, Mexican food has continued to evolve as a result of the influences of other countries.

Corn, a key Mexican food ingredient, and Aztec influence on Mexican cooking, is perhaps the most important ingredient in Mexican food. Corn was the main ingredient of the Aztec diet. Consequently, the Aztecs were very dependent on a successful corn harvest, and worshiped Cinteátl, the god of corn, and Chicomencáatl, the corn goddess. Today, the chief use of corn in Mexican cooking is in the making of tortillas. Tortillas are the bread of the Mexican kitchen.

The Aztec staple foods included maize, beans and squash to which were often added chilies and tomatoes, all prominent parts of the Mexican diet to this day. They harvested acocils, a small and abundant shrimp of Lake Texcoco, as well as Spirulina algae, which was made into a sort of cake rich in flavonoids. Although the Aztec's diet was mostly vegetarian, the Aztecs consumed insects such as crickets (chapulines), maguey worm, ants, larvae, etc. Insects have a higher protein content than meat, and even now they are considered a delicacy in some parts of Mexico. Aztec elites consumed human flesh, although to what extent is debated.
Aztecs also used maguey extensively; from it they obtained food, sugar (aguamiel–honey water), fibers for ropes and clothing, and drink (pulque, a fermented beverage with an alcoholic content equivalent to beer). Getting drunk before the age of 70 however was forbidden. First offenses drew relatively light punishment but repeat offenses could be punished by death.

Cocoa beans were used as money and also to make xocolatl, a frothy and bitter beverage, lacking the sweetness of modern chocolate drinks. The Aztecs also kept beehives and harvested honey.
A study by Montellano shows a mean life expectancy of 37 (±3) years for the population of Mesoamerica. After the Spanish conquest, some foods were outlawed, particularly amaranth because of its central role in religious rituals. There was less diversity of food which led to chronic malnutrition in the general population.

A Brief History on Some of Our Favorite Foods
Salsa was sold in the Aztec market places. Salsa, the Spanish word for sauce, is uncooked and sometimes pureed until chunky, smooth, or chopped. Large red tomatoes, tomatillo, chipotle {a staple in the Aztec diet} and the avocado are found in the modern salsa, and are the same core ingredients used in the past. We can thank the Aztecs for Chocolate. It was through them that the Spaniards brought the product to Europe in 1657.

The term enchilada is first referenced in the US in 1885. Yet the concept of tortillas being used as a wrap can be clearly linked to the Aztecs. The word enchilada means "in chile."

The tomatillo is a fruit that dates back to at least 800 BC, the word meaning round and plump. The Aztecs domesticated it, and when the Europeans came to Mexico, they documented the local foods and often confused the names by shortening the words. Though never popular with Europeans, it thrived in Italy. Today a relative of the fruit is common in the US. Tomatillo, a member of the night shade family, provides tart flavor in many different green sauces.

Answer 2

Aztec Mexican Food

Answer 3

Indigenous Americans learned long ago to add alkali — in the form of ashes among North Americans and lime (calcium carbonate) among Mesoamericans — to corn meal to liberate the B-vitamin niacin. This alkali process is known by its Nahuatl (Aztec)-derived name: nixtamalization.

Nixtamalization of corn allowed it to be a healthy staple of Aztec food, and now Mexican food.

Corn itself was domesticated and bred from a wild plant (which looks nothing like corn) to what it is today. The Indigenous Americans were the ones to breed it into such a good food source.

The Aztec staple foods included corn, beans and squash to which were often added chilies and tomatoes, all prominent parts of the Mexican diet to this day.

Aztecs also used cocoa beans, which are used in Mexican cooking today as well; the word "chocolate" comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl".