Mesoamerican cuisine facts for kids

Mesoamerican cuisine is the traditional food from a large area in Central America. This region includes countries like Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, northern Costa Rica, and Mexico.

The main foods in this cuisine are maize (corn), beans, squash, and chili peppers. People grow many types of corn depending on the climate. Other important plants used in cooking are amaranth, avocado, cassava, cherimoya, chia, chocolate, guava, nanche, pineapple, sapodilla, sweet potatoes, yucca, and zapote.

People in Mesoamerica have used special ways to store, prepare, and keep their food fresh for a very long time. Many of these old methods are still used today. Before Hernán Cortés arrived and brought new foods like rice and wheat, cornfields (called milpa) were a main source of food.

Some classic dishes include Atole, which is a warm drink made from corn dough. If you add chocolate, it becomes Chocolate Atole, also known as champurrado. Two common corn dishes are a thick soup made from boiled corn and chilies, and dough used for flat cakes, tamales, and tortillas. Sometimes, even edible foam was a popular food, seen as very special.

Squash was cooked for food. Dried gourds were used for storing things. They were even used in battles! People would fill them with hot embers and chilies, wrap them in leaves, and use them like an early form of chemical weapon.

A Look at History

Cocoa seeds are used to make chocolate.

Food has been important in Mesoamerica for thousands of years. Here are some key dates:

• 7200 BCE: People started using chilies in their food.
• 6700 BCE: Wild corn (called teosinte) was harvested and planted.
• 4000 BCE: Squash began to be used for food.
• 2000 BCE: Farming of many plants became common.
• 1500 BCE: The Olmec civilization in Mesoamerica started using chocolate.

Animals for Food

The main animals eaten in Mesoamerican cuisine were dogs, turkeys, and the Muscovy duck. These animals provided meat for many meals.

The Story of Chocolate

People in Mesoamerica started making fermented drinks from chocolate around 450 BCE. They used beans from the Theobroma cacao, also known as the cocoa tree.

At first, chocolate drinks were often spicy. Later, when sugar was added instead of spices, chocolate became very popular. It was often served at big feasts. To make it, toasted cocoa beans were ground into a powder. Sometimes, parched corn was also ground with the beans. This powder was then mixed with water. People would beat the mixture with a wooden whisk until it became foamy. To make it taste even better, they added vanilla orchid pods or honey.

Chocolate was also seen as a powerful energy drink. It was even believed to increase energy and desire. The Aztec ruler Moctezuma II reportedly drank 50 cups of chocolate every day from a golden cup!