Mayan FoodMayan food was extensive and very varied. The main ingredient was the maize, but it included all variations of flora, fauna and marine life. During the era of the Mayan Empire, they were experts in agriculture, fishing and hunting and all was done in a large scale production and with a lot of wisdom.
The ever present Hot green or red Chile is an integral part of Mayan Food
Maize – Squash – Beans They are referred as the “Three Sisters” of the Mexican diet, since they complemented each other in nutrients. Maize or corn was the main ingredient of the Mayan diet and they ate it in different ways. It is known that maize prepared in the correct way release niacin which is Vitamin B3 that prevents deficiencies in protein consumption. Mexican Tortillas I am sure that if you are in Tel Aviv or Kuala Lumpur, you’ll find a Mexican restaurant that sells tortillas. Mexican Tortillas are the number one plate in this country’s food. And it was the same for the ancient Mayas. The tortillas were used to wrap other foods like meat or beans. It is probably the most known of Pre-Columbus food of Central and North America. Mexican Tamales They are made of corn dough filled with meat or other ingredient and then wrapped on a corn husk and steam cooked.
Delicious Corn tamales are always in the Mayan Diet
Other foods used by the Mayas • Atole and Pozole are made by mixing the ground corn with water. The first one is denser then the second. • Manioc This is a tuber grown known in other countries as Yucca or Cassava. They discovered that the nutritional properties of the manioc were far superior then those of maize and produce it in great quantities to feed the large Mayan population of those times. • Beans The Mayans grew many varieties of beans that are part of the Mexican diet of today. They are the pinto, the red and black beans. • Fruits Fruits and vegetables were also part of the Mayan Diet. The cultivated tomato, chili peppers, breadnut, guava, mamey, guanabana, pineapple, papaya, sweet potato, chayote and pumpkin • Spices When Marco Polo went to the Orient looking for spices, the Mayans were growing various herbs including vanilla, achiote, epazote, avocado leaf, garlic vine, oregano and anis. • Meats The number one dish was the turkey and it is the same today. Even though meat was not an important ingredient of Mayan Food, they did eat a variety of animals like rabbits, monkeys and armadillos.
The manioc also called Yucca is full of nutrients and very tasty
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I found these two sites for Mayan Recipes that you may like This is not strictly speaking ancient Mayan recipes since there are none preserved. What I have done is from common historical knowledge adapt some modern Mayan recipes. A big difference from today is of course the absence of onions since they only came with the Spanish. The diet of the ancient Maya was based on maize, beans, chili peppers and squash, foods still eaten in the modern Maya area. The Mayan Food is the predecessor of today’s Mexican Food, so delicious and nutritive.  Custom Search From Mayan Food go to Mayan Riviera
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