Spices in the pre-Columbian Mayan diet

When time and funding permit, each flower (each plant species) will have its own page, and its own PDF, and eventually its own PPT so that professors and students have plenty of material on Guatemala (and Honduras, etc) to study.

Heliconia adflexa, Coban, Guatemala, Hotel Monja Blanca, FLAAR, by Nicholas Hellmuth

This space is for flowers
we have recently found and photographed.

Reports by FLAAR Mesoamerica
on Flora & Fauna of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo
Peten, Guatemala, Central America

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Spices in the pre-Columbian Mayan diet

Cacao alone had so many spices that I have a separate chapter on flavorings just for chocolate. Despite all the condiments for cacao (especially among the Aztec royality), the typical food of the average Maya is nowhere near as spiced as food in India, which is the most

Allspice is a berry, Pimenta gorda, Pimenta racemosa This does not mean a mixture of all spices. “allspice” is one single spice. The spice comes from a berry-sized fruit. But the leaf is the part that I use the most: to make a tea.

Pimienta gorda flavorings condiments for food in pre Columbian diet of Guatemala Mexico Belize and Honduras

Achiote, Annatto is the bright red colorant that comes from a mass of seeds inside a pod, Bixa orellana.

This seed is probably more a colorant than a flavor, but I put it in both sections.

Achiote is best known for Alta Verapaz, but also grows in the Peten Lowlands. I have an achiote sprouting in my garden (from seed). But it will take several years before I learn whether it will flower and seed at 1500 meter elevation.

Bishop Landa found achite even in Yucatan: There is a tree that the Indians raise near their houses, bearing spiny pods like chestnuts, but not so large nor so rough; they open when ripe and contain small seeds which both Spaniards and Indians use to color their condiments, as one does with saffron; the color is marked, and stains a great deal [achiote]. (Landa, Gates translation, p. 106).

bay-leaves Litsea glaucescens

boldo, Peumus boldo

Chia, Salvia hispanica; seeds used; in juice; sprouts, etc

Chipilin, Crotalaria longirostrata. Unique flower; Parts edible, part toxic (Morton 1994)

Chili peppers are spices we cover in the section on vegetables, Capsicum species

Chile jalapeño verde spices flavorings condiments for foods in pre Columbian diet of Guatemala Mexico Belize and Honduras

Chile jalapeño rojo spices flavorings condiments for foods in pre Columbian diet of Guatemala Mexico Belize and Honduras

Chile waque spices flavorings condiments for foods in pre Columbian diet of Guatemala Mexico Belize and Honduras

Coriander, Porophyllum ruderale

Culantro, cilantro, samat, Eryngium foetidum (Chizmar 2009:40-41). Do not confuse this with original cilantro, which is not prehispanic. This is one of the few flavorings which has positive attributes in every aspect. So many other natural foods are terrible poisons in one aspect and only edible in a narrow range of circumstances.

Cilantro flavorings condiments for food in pre Columbian diet of Guatemala Mexico Belize and Honduras

Hoja Santa, Piper auritum

Marigold, Tagetes minuta and Tagetes elliptica. This flower is used to flavor cacao. Overall the marigold has many uses in diet and religious observences of the Maya people.

Marigold Tagetes minuta and Tagetes elliptica this flower is used to flavor cacao Guatemala Central America

Probably another dozen spices could easily be added, though most modern spices come from India, Asia, Africa, or Europe. For example, coriandum sativum, cilantro, is not indigenous to Mesoamerica.

First posted August 17, 2011.