Mexican Cuisine Traced To 1,500 Years Ago

Jul 10, 2007 14:48

From SmithsonianOne of the world's tastiest and most popular cuisines, Mexican food also may be one of the oldest ( Read more... )

archaeology, ancient americas, peppers

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beerdiablo July 10 2007, 22:49:41 UTC
I wonder if there were giant chili peppers when dinosaurs walked the earth?

But more importantly, why haven't archaeologists found any Aztec or Mayan margarita machines? They really need to get it into gear...

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la_azteca July 11 2007, 13:29:46 UTC
I think Quetzie took all the machines. Besides, the scientific paper does mention pulque, so there'll be something for you to drink when that time machine is built.

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ancientscripts July 10 2007, 23:09:38 UTC
This is pretty cool. Now I gotta find myself an Oaxacan restaurant...

I actually downloaded the actual scientific paper, and it has some additional interesting details. The caves were used as seasonal camps for farmers who planted crops far away from Mitla. They ate, slept, and even conducted ceremonies in the caves with pulque and incense burning. The deposits also included corn, beans, avocados, zapotes, and a lot of other wild plants. In other words, these people ate pretty well.

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la_azteca July 11 2007, 13:40:28 UTC
As they say in these here parts: Dem's good eatin. Here's a link to the PNAS abstract of the research. I notice the article mentions the use of starch grains for documenting the presence of chilies at sites ... more information on that method can be found at http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/feb2007/chili-pepper-release. According to the article, "early Latin American peoples would have found chili peppers, which are rich in vitamin C, to be an excellent complement to fish and starchier foods like maize, beans, yams and corn."

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