The Zapotecs fed on the typical foods of the region of Mesoamerica Such as corn, beans and squash.
The Zapotecs are a pre-Columbian culture belonging to the state of Oxaca in Mexico, and south of the state of Puebla. They were one of the most important pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica.
Zapotec vase
The name comes from the Nahuatl And means people of the clouds. They thought they came directly from the clouds as divine envoys of the gods.
Its greater settlement was Monte Albán, an architectonic set formed by stepped pyramids. These pyramids are engraved on the stone with representations of the dancers and ball games.
The Zapotecas devised two calendars to measure time, the first, Iza, had 365 days and was grouped in 18 months. This calendar organization was used to control crops. The other calendar they devised, Piye, had 260 days organized in 13 months, and was used to put names to newborns.
Zapotec Nutrition Foods
farming
The vegetable and animal variety of the zone of Mesoamérica, provided to its inhabitants of great sources of food. In addition, the Zapotecs developed the cultivation of maize, creating large fields of cultivation.
The agricultural systems that used the most was the terraced system. In the valleys they built dams and irrigation canals.
Its development of agriculture was one of the most extensive of the time and gave sustenance to numerous villages. This boom of agriculture also helped to develop its economy with the rest of towns.
The main tool used for their crops was the sowing stick. This sowing culture allowed them to develop corn, beans and squash, which were the staples of their diet.
In addition, there were other crops that they produced, although to a lesser extent they were plantains, chickpeas, peas, sweet potatoes, garlic and onions.
Other species that the Zapotecas also appreciated within their gastronomy were tomatoes, chilacayotes (a kind of pumpkin), chayotes (in other cultures it is known as Chuchu), chelites (wild edible herbs), pumpkin flowers and fungi. The fungi consumed them anyway, whether they were edible or hallucinogenic.
Some varieties of tubers that complemented their feeding were the chinchayote (the root of the chayotera), the sweet potato (sweet potatoes), the guacamote (cassava) and the jicama (tubers similar to the onion).
To all these products that they produced with their harvests, we must add the amount of fruits that they collected from the trees, such as papayas, plums, pitayas, chirimoyas, wild grapes, tamarind, guava, avocados and peanuts.
Another of the things that abounded in its diet, as in the central and southern part of the Americas, was the use of cocoa.
With cocoa they made chocolate drinks, although they did not resemble those we have today but were bitter. They used the Chia seeds Also for drinks and oil.
Hunting
The Zapotecos were not only vegetarian, but also a hunter village, which complemented their diet with the region's characteristic animals.
Proteins supplemented the large amount of vegetables they obtained from the soil. The most abundant animals in the area were small wild animals such as weasels, toposm badgers, raccoons...
Birds were also abundant like ducks. And they included in their diet animals that today seems unthinkable to us like monkeys, armadillos, iguanas and snakes.
Prepared Dishes
With all these foods, the Zapotecs made delicious dishes that served as sustenance for the whole tribe. Among the typical dishes are the antojitos or appetizers.
This variety of dishes has succulent recipes such as tamales wrapped in banana leaves, tortillas, tlayudas with seat and corn totopos.
The tamales are typical dishes that have reached our days. They consist of some meat, along with vegetables wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed or at the stake.
The tortillas, the Zapotecs used them as bread to accompany most of their dishes. They are made with corn flour, one of the main crops produced by the Zapotecs.
Tlayudas are another type of corn tortillas, but with a larger diameter than normal tortillas, which are only used in the regions of Oxaca, where the Zapotecos came from.
The seat referred to in the recipe is the fat of the pig, which is used as a butter to prepare this recipe. Corn topotos are the nachos we know today.
On special occasions, the Zapotecs had special dishes that they cooked. Among them is the black, red or yellow mole, the tasajo, the broth of cat, the entomatado, the quesadilla of elotes and garnachas.
The mole is a sauce made from chilies. Depending on which chili we use it can be a mole or another.
The tasajo is a piece of meat, usually of cow, that smokes similar to the Spanish cecina.
Cat's broth is a vegetable soup, chickpeas and chili. It is known by that name because sometimes it was added a small animal that was easy to catch.
The entomatado consisted in making a sauce of tomato and chile to some type of meat that they could hunt.
The cornbread quesadilla used the corn tortillas and stuffed them with corn and cheese. And the garnachas are also the corn tortillas, but thicker and accompanied by meat cooked in sauce and chiles.
The Zapotecs also used sweet dishes in their kitchen like pancakes, egg tortillas and chickpeas in panela.
References
- CASE, Alfonso. Mixtec and Zapotec cultures . Binding Editions the National, 1942.
- CASE, Alfonso. Calendar and writing of the ancient cultures of Monte Albán . Cooperativa Talleres Gráf. Of the Nation, 1947.
- MARCUS, Joyce; FLANNERY, Kent V.; SANTANA, Jorge Ferreiro. The Zapotec civilization: how the urban society evolved in the Valley of Oaxaca . Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2001.
- OF VÁSQUEZ COLMENARES, Ana María Guzmán. Oaxacan gastronomic traditions . Publisher not identified, 1982.
- DE LA MORA, Dulce María Espinosa. Indigenous gastronomic show. 2011.
- NORTH AMERICA; OF THE SOUTH, AMERICA. Oaxaca, the town of clouds.