It is that time of year again. The days are waning, the nights are cooling (well they would be if I was Northern hemispherical) and my feeds are filling up with the autumnal imagery of this season of spirits. The boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead fluctuate and bleed into each other and we welcome the memories of those who have … Continue reading Cempasúchil and Popocatepetl
Porophyllum is a genus of phanerogamous (1) plants belonging to the family Asteraceae (2) . The pore-leaf family includes 101 described species and of these, only 27 are accepted. They are native subshrubs of the Americas. As their name suggests (4), their leaves often have large glands that produce aromatic oils that give off a strong odour. The large majority of these plants are used … Continue reading Porophyllum iruyense
Lengua de vaca Now, when I speak of lengua de vaca (cows tongue) I am not speaking of the actual tongue of a cow but of a wild herb or “quelite”. The herb is no doubt (as you will see further down) named for its general appearance (shape and size wise in some cases) of a cows tongue. Commonly used and appreciated in México, the … Continue reading Quelite : Lengua de vaca
The beverage, bate, is a traditional beverage of the state of Colima made from toasted and ground chan, beaten with water and sweetened with honey or a kind of molasses prepared from piloncillo, or hard brown sugar. The chan seed is an interesting pseudograin that hails originally from the Mexican state of Colima. Suchitlán is a small town around 20 kilometres outside of the state … Continue reading Prehispanic Drinks – Bate
I would like to look at some interesting information regarding a little known (to me) statue of Xochipilli that has recently been mentioned by two history related sites (1)(2) The Posts I speak of. via Tetzcoco Prehispánico on Facebook SCULPTURE OF XOCHIPILLI, HUEXOTLA. Image: Wilhelm Bauer 1901 – 1910 This beautiful tezontle (1) stone sculpture, from Huexotla (2), State of Mexico, measures 15.5 x 11 … Continue reading Xochipilli and the Zapote
I have posted on the herb chipilin previously and noted both its culinary and medicinal uses. Check this out at Quelite : Chipilin : Crotalaria longirostrata I want to expand upon my original Post with some cultural background on the herb and a legend on the creation of the plant. Many plants have creation myths, usually involving death, violence and/or a tragic love story, and … Continue reading Ixchel and the Legend of Chepil
Cover image : Porophyllum ruderale in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia where it is being investigated as a potential declared weed. Before we can purchase it at the mercado it needs to be harvested; and boy howdy is it harvested (1). Papalo is one of few native Mexican herbs that retained its popularity in the face of imported plants (this will come up a little later when … Continue reading Papalo at the Mercado
An interesting quelite has popped up in my feed. The flor de cimal. A reader (thank you Kellan) has asked about a (possible) quelite called flor de cimal and has noted the only reference to be found on this plant is “This small, red-leafed herb that grows at the base of the maguey – century plant – is incorporated into tamale dough in the traditional … Continue reading Flor de cimal (?)
I have briefly looked at this herb in my Post Papalo and Pipicha. Skunk Weed? and as it is tantalisingly close to my love papalo I would like to investigate it a little more deeply (and grow it if I can source the seed). Also called : Yerba del Venado, Coronilla, Cempasuchil sencillo, Corona de Rey, arnica, San Felipe dyssodia, San Felipe dogweed, San Felipe … Continue reading Poreleaf Adjacent : San Felipe Dogweed : Adenophyllum porophylloides
Wow. This started as something else. We’ll get to the Aztec diet part in a minute. Before I wanted to start I thought I’d define a couple of terms (one being “Naturopath”) so I thought I’d do a quick Google to get some ideas of the definitions out there and how they measured against what I know and all I can say is Holy Fuck! … Continue reading A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 1
Masa Americana 