The Use of Maize in Aztec Diet

Maize was the most important staple of the Aztec  diet  and was served at every meal in a variety of forms, including the tlaxcalli, or tortilla (flat maize bread); tamalli, or tamale (steamed corn dough stuffed with meat); atolli, or atole (fine maize-flour water flavored with chilies or fruits); pozolli, or pozole (stew containing large maize kernels); and elotl, or elote (corn on the cob). It claimed this seat of honor for diverse reasons. First, maize grew in many varieties. Second, maize adapted to many climates and soil types, and could grow almost anywhere within the Aztec's imperial boundaries. Finally, and most important, maize yielded one of the highest caloric crops and supplied among the highest amounts of protein of the world's major food crops. Maize was of such importance to the Aztec  diet  that the plant had its own deities-Cinteotl (male) and Chicomecoatl and Xilonen (female).

The midsummer festival Huey Tecuilhuitl celebrated and honored the young maize plant. Maize was also used as a metaphor, the favored literary device of the Aztec poet. Sahagún reports that to honor someone, speakers would say that that person had reached the year of the maize ear.

Preparation of Maize

Before maize could be processed into nutritionally sound foods, the kernels needed to be shorn from the cob and soaked in an alkaline solution of water, limestone, and a source of calcium hydrochloride called nixtamal. To make tortillas, Aztec women ground the kernels into a flour on a metlatl, or metate (grinding stone), and shaped the dough into flat, thin circular pieces of bread. These tortillas were then cooked on a comalli, or comal (clay griddle) and served fresh or stored for later meals. The presence of the tortilla in several rituals testifies to its significance within Aztec culture. Durán recounts that unmarried girls dedicated to the temple carried offerings of tortillas in ceremonial bowls to the temple at dawn. He also describes a custom during the feast of Tlacaxipehualiztli consisting of people wearing twisted honey tortillas and dancing all day. Sahagún recounts that a tortilla replaced the sacrificial blade in simulation sacrifices. He also witnessed dancing priests wearing S-shaped tortillas. Even in superstition, the tortilla played a role; if a woman's tortilla folded on itself on the comalli, she would say that a visitor coming to see her had kicked it over to signal her arrival. The tortilla provided more than just physical sustenance. A more ancient maize-based creation was the tamalli. A grainy dough, shaped into balls, formed the body of the tamale, which could also be formed into pointed, rolled, and adobe shapes. Stuffed with beans-second only to maize in the Aztec  diet  and served at every meal-or chilies, the dough was then wrapped in maize leaves and steamed in a large clay pot. Variations of the tamale included fillings of amaranth seeds, maize flowers, honey, beeswax, turkey eggs, and cherries. Both the tortilla and the tamale, in different variations, are still eaten today. Like the tortilla, the tamale also played a significant cultural role in Aztec communities, and Aztec residents acknowledged its importance in the feast of Atamalcualiztli (Eating of Water Tamales). Every eight years, in this seven-day observance, Aztecs ate plain tamales steamed in water; lime, ash, flavoring, chilies, and peppers were not included in the recipe. This pure method of cooking the tamales ritually allowed the maize a moment of freedom from the tortures of being worked and seasoned. Women also ground maize kernels to make pinole, or gruel, in a variety of recipes-gruel with honey, with honey and chilies, and with honey, fish, and amaranth seeds.

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