Tlaxcalatolli. Atole de Tortilla.
Tlaxcallan bread soup? Bread “soup” is a food of the poor (well at least that’s how it started) . Nothing was “left over” and nothing went to waste. Stale bread (and as we’ll see, tortillas) can be used as the base of a recipe. In this case we are looking at atole made with yesterdays tortillas (instead of masa or masa harina) but first lets … Continue reading Tlaxcalatolli. Atole de Tortilla.
Can Machines Art ?
Can calculators math? It’s a routine, a program. They (the machine that is) don’t actually “do” anything, they just follow the program. Does that make it math? And that’s not even A.I. A.I. is so far ahead (technologically speaking) when compared to a calculator but interestingly enough not nearly as effective as a calculator (at calculating that is). Generally speaking A.I. is considered bad at … Continue reading Can Machines Art ?
Shrekxicanismo.
Language interests, amuses and often amazes me. I love the evolution of words and language and always enjoy botanical terms in particular as they tell a whole story (usually in Latin) that is glazed over when the words are simply used just to identify the plant by name. Another thing I love is slang (1) For some reason it reminds me of graffiti and, like … Continue reading Shrekxicanismo.
A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Appendix 2 : Chocolate Drinks
I briefly look at the masa based drink called atole in a couple of earlier Posts (1)(2) and I recommend you check these out for a little more context (culturally speaking). They’ll introduce you to the core ingredient (and arguably the basis of life in Mexico), the nixtamalised corn dough called masa, and it will introduce you to an archetypal piece of Mexican cooking equipment, … Continue reading A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Appendix 2 : Chocolate Drinks
A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Appendix 1 : Atole
I briefly look at the masa based drink called atole in my Post Mexican Cooking Equipment : The Molinillo but lets go into it in a bit more detail here and in another related Post I’ll investigate a range of chocolate beverages based on this ingredient called masa. Atole (Spanish) from atolli (Nahuatl) which, according to the definition, is a beverage made from finely ground maize, mixed … Continue reading A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Appendix 1 : Atole
A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Diet
“We must repeat it: Mesoamericans do not plant corn, Mesoamericans make cornfields. And they are different things because corn is a plant and the cornfield is a way of life. The cornfield is the matrix (womb) of Mesoamerican civilization. If we really want to preserve and strengthen our deep identity, not only agroecological but also socio-economic, cultural and civilizational, we must move from the corn … Continue reading A Naturopathic View of the Aztec Diet : Part 2 : Diet
New Porophyllum Discovered.
Anzuinelli and crew are at it again. Their botanical wanderings of Argentina has bought to light a new species of pore leaf. In July of 2024 Anzuinelli (et al 2024) published an article commenting on the cataloguing of a “new endemic species” of Porophyllum less than 6 months after doing the very same with Porophyllum iruyense. They also had an interesting occurrence with the species … Continue reading New Porophyllum Discovered.
Carnitas
Carnitas, literally translated means “little meats”. This is a dish made by braising, simmering and frying pork in its own fat, lard or cooking oil. It is often called a confit (1) but it really isn’t. A confit (as it refers to pork and not a fruit preserve for instance) involves immersing the pork completely in fat (lard) and slowly simmering it until very tender … Continue reading Carnitas
Tepache. Part Two. The Recipe.
There’s also some medicinal info at the bottom so check that out too. Brief recap. What is tepache? Tepache (from nahuatl “tépiatl” or “tepiatzin” (1), related to maize variety “téplit” (2) is a Mexican prehispanic fermented beverage originally prepared with maize (Pérez-Armendáriz and Cardoso-Ugarte, 2020). Ulloa and Herrera (1982) do (kind of) back this up though (the corn/water drink that is) by noting “Although this … Continue reading Tepache. Part Two. The Recipe.
Teotl. Gods? Forces of Nature?
I have previously pondered over the next subject (and continue to do so) on a fairly regular basis. My ponderings are of course slanted by my own psyche (and a psyche that was constructed under the banner of Roman Catholicism no less). It has been stated that there were no Aztec Gods and that these “Gods” were in fact philosophical constructs created to bring into … Continue reading Teotl. Gods? Forces of Nature?
Masa Americana 