Top 10 Foods of the Maya World
Baking
tortillas in Chichicastenango, Guatemala
Photograph
by Aldo Pavan, Grand Tour/Corbis
- Chocolate
Cacao is endemic to the lands of the Maya, who were
the first to take the seeds of the fruit and roast them to make hot chocolate.
The ancient Maya didn’t make candy bars, nor did they add sugar and milk to the
cacao. Instead they took their chocolate as a ceremonial elixir and a savory
mood
enhancer.
For the Maya, cacao was a sacred gift of the gods, and
cacao beans were used as currency. Ek Chuah, the Maya god of merchants and
trade, was also the patron of the cacao crop. When the Spanish invaded Maya
lands in the 1500s, they adopted the beverage, adding sugar and milk to make it
sweet and creamy. To learn more about cacao and taste chocolate, visit the
Ecomuseo del Cacao in the Puuc region of Yucatán, www.ecomuseodelcacao.com.
- Avocados and Guacamole
The avocado, originating in southern Mexico and Guatemala, is loved for its rich taste and creamy
texture and was a treasured crop of the ancient Maya. Even today a person from
Antigua Guatemala is called a panza verde, or green belly, because of
the region's reliance on avocados in hard times.
Combined with chilis, garlic, cilantro, onions, and
lime or lemon, avocados become guacamole, a sumptuous appetizer. Don’t expect
to find lots of Hass avocados in the Maya world—there are many other varieties,
most of which are bigger.
In 1917, Wilson Popenoe, a California Avocado
Association explorer, reported why Guatemalan avocados are best: “The flesh is
of a deeper yellow color, smoother, more buttery [in] texture, and richer [in]
flavor than any varieties yet known in the United States.”
- Poc Chuc
This distinctly Yucatecan dish dates to the days
before refrigeration, when meat was preserved with salt. Slow-cooked pork is
combined with sour orange juice and vinegar to temper the saltiness of the
meat. The orange juice refreshes the salted pork and gives it a tangy
flavor—“sour orange” is a variety of orange; the juice hasn’t gone sour. The
dish is topped with onions sauteed with coriander and a bit of sugar.
Julio Bermejo of Tommy’s
Mexican Restaurant in San Francisco, which serves Yucatecan specialties,
says his favorite restaurant in Yucatán is Restaurante El Príncipe Tutul-Xiu, in Maní: “They
make the best poc chuc on Earth!”
- Michelada
Southern Mexicans like to add some spice to their food—and
their beer. A michelada (or chelada in some parts) infuses cerveza
with lime, coarse salt, pepper, and shots of Worcestershire and/or Tabasco
sauce, served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass. Some versions also include soy
sauce or Maggi seasoning. It sounds odd, but it’s refreshing and well suited to
a hot day—or a rough morning.
If the spices sound a bit much, try a simple version,
which blends just lime juice and salt with a light beer, like Corona or Tecate.
It’s so popular that Miller and Budweiser have created their own versions of
michelada, but of course there’s nothing like the real thing.
- Corn Tortillas
Handmade Guatemalan tortillas provide an elemental
satisfaction. In outdoor markets, you can hear a rhythmic clapping as women pat
them into shape, then cook them on a comal, a big wood-fired iron or
clay pan that looks like a Caribbean steel drum. These tortillas are only three
or four inches across but thicker than what North Americans are accustomed to.
The Maya creation myth says people were made of masa
(corn dough), and this remains the essential element of the indigenous Maya
diet. Hot off the comal, tortillas are immensely satisfying, an ideal
accompaniment to Guatemalan black beans, a perfect base for a layer of
guacamole.
6. Traditional Breakfast
Simple foods are often the best. The typical Maya desayuno
includes scrambled eggs, a side of black beans, fried plantains (akin to
bananas but larger, with more complex flavor), a bit of queso blanco
(white cheese), and a cup of rich coffee made from local beans. It’s all
accompanied by a cloth-lined basket of warm yellow corn tortillas. After an
all-night flight to Guatemala, I head straight to Antigua Guatemala’s Posada de Don Rodrigo and enjoy a morning feast
in the hotel’s leafy courtyard, as a marimba band plays.
- Coffee
Seeing where your coffee comes from is an eye-opening
experience. The typical coffee plantation tour includes a visit to fields (and
often an explanation about the virtues of shade-grown coffee), continues to
areas where the beans are dried and processed, and ends with a cup of café.
Finca
Filadelfia, with views of distant volcanoes, offers tours near
Antigua Guatemala. If you want more kick than a cup of joe offers, cap off your
day with a ride on their zip line. Near Quetzaltenango, in Guatemala’s western
highlands, an organic coffee and macadamia co-op farm called Comunidad Nueva Alianza is well worth visiting.
- Two Refreshers: Jamaica and Horchata
At cantinas throughout the Maya world you’ll see big
glass jugs with aguas frescas. The bright red drink is agua de
jamaica, known simply as jamaica, (pronounced ha-MY-ka) made from
hibiscus flower calyxes, water, and sugar. It’s high in vitamin C and an ideal
way to temper the summer swelter.
Another popular refresco in the Yucatán
Peninsula and beyond is horchata, a blend of rice milk, ground almonds,
cinnamon, and sugar. Some varieties have chufa (tiger nut), vanilla, or
barley. The result is almost like a milkshake but not as thick or rich. A
horchata complements spicy food.
- Authentic Tamales
No culinary exploration of Maya life would be complete
without tamales. Made from masa harina (corn flour) and filled with
chicken, pork, vegetables, and/or cheese, tamales are wrapped in corn husks—or
a banana or plantain leaf—and steamed. Then they’re unwrapped and topped with
salsa. Some tamales are made with fruit or other sweet fillings. In much of the
Maya world, indigenous women walk door to door selling baskets of fragrant
tamales.
Enjoyed long before the Spanish invasion, tamales are
a staple of Maya holiday celebrations and festivals. Tamales are even depicted
in ancient Maya glyphs and excavated artifacts.
- “Dog Snout” Salsa
This fiery salsa, made with habanero chilis, is not
for the faint of palate. It’s very spicy and should come with a warning label
that it may make you cry. It’s called “dog snout salsa” because its intense
heat can make your nose moist.
In much of the Yucatán Peninsula, this salsa, also
known as xni-pec, includes not just the traditional tomatoes, onions,
cilantro, and lime, but also orange or grapefruit juice. In Guatemala, less
spicy fresh salsas are served alongside bottled hot sauces. For a shot of fire,
grab the bottle of Maya-Ik, a hot sauce with a Tikal temple on the label. I
always buy some Maya-Ik to take home, a piquant reminder of the flavors of the
Maya world.
Michael Shapiro is co-author of Guatemala: A Journey Through the Land
of the Maya and author of A Sense of Place. To see more of
his writing, visit www.michaelshapiro.net.
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