Ancient Mayan Food

Researching about ancient Mayan food is easier than with other American ancient cultures. The reason is that still today there are people that recognize themselves as Mayan, traces of other "big" cultures are gone or a lot harder to find. The ancient Mayan culture usually is considered to have been between 2000BC until 900AD, thus when the Spanish came to Middle America it was already after its prime. The Mayan empire was influential all the way from Nicaragua to central Mexico.

Agriculture
Compared to the Eurasian ancient cultures there are some major differences. For instance, the major staple was maize, a crop domestic to the area. Beans was a major protein source and much more important than it ever was in any ancient Eurasian culture. Of the cultivated vegetables squash and pumpkin were the most important - yucca, manioc, tomato and sweet potato were also grown. Fruits like avocado, papaya and guava were domesticated or collected - rain forests in the region always made fruit collection important. They also knew how to make chocolate from cacao. The agricultural practices varied from shifting cultivation to properly managed and irrigated fields, various methods were developed to meet the specific demands of a certain area. The Mayans were among the first to practice crop rotation, an important way to avoid soil exhaustion.

Maize
The preparation of maize was quite elaborate. After drying the maize kernels they were soaked in water and lime, a method that also made the food more nutritious for the human body. The pasty result was then ground and could be used to make "tortillas", common until today. Cooked beans would be mashed up and put inside the tortilla and you had the first "burritos". It is believed that popcorn is a Mayan invention. It could also be consumed in liquid form as a gruel. In ancient Mayan food maize was paramount.

Meat And Fish
Meat was not usual in the diet, the domestic turkey was the most common. Otherwise it would have been random hunted animals like rabbits and monkeys. Fish and seafood was mostly eaten in the coastal regions but was to some extent salted and transported.

Spices and Seasoning
Chili is domestic to the Americas and was used liberally by the Mayans. Honey was used as a sweetener, there is evidence of beekeeping. They also knew the delicious secret of the vanilla orchid capsule.