Food, Gender and Cultural Hegemony - Kennesaw State University
Food, Gender and Cultural Hegemony - Kennesaw State University
Food, Gender and Cultural Hegemony - Kennesaw State University
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CUALLI 2013<br />
<strong>Food</strong>, <strong>Gender</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Cultural</strong> <strong>Hegemony</strong>:<br />
Miscegenation <strong>and</strong> the Culinary Basis for National<br />
Cuisines in Latin America<br />
Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Kansas<br />
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Abstract: The importance of food as an aspect of the cultural hegemony achieved after the Spanish<br />
conquest has been little emphasized in the literature. Anthropologists are increasingly seeing food<br />
as having an independent impact on the social <strong>and</strong> cultural identity of people. This question takes<br />
on special importance when related to two independent well-defined society in the context of<br />
conquest. In this paper the foodways of the Spanish <strong>and</strong> of the Nahua are examined for their<br />
characteristics <strong>and</strong> symbolic importance. It is posited that the gradual cultural hybridity that takes<br />
place can be likened to the process of language acculturation. The process of change incorporates<br />
the main symbolic foods of each culture <strong>and</strong> creates new foods which are ultimately seen as<br />
“national” because they retain important dimensions of the foodways of the dominant Spanish<br />
group. At the same time this is feasible <strong>and</strong> acceptable to indigenous <strong>and</strong> mestizo groups because<br />
of the strong similarities in types of food, social hierarchies, <strong>and</strong> the symbolic importance of food<br />
for the culture.<br />
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The Spanish conquest of New World territories (as described in historiographical<br />
literature) resulted in the political <strong>and</strong> economic control of territories <strong>and</strong> the transfer<br />
of treasure <strong>and</strong> profits of New World plantation agriculture to Spain. Less commented<br />
on are the conscious efforts of crown <strong>and</strong> church in the sixteenth century toward<br />
Spanish cultural hegemony, <strong>and</strong> the almost invisible incorporation of indigenous <strong>and</strong><br />
hybrid cultural influences into the accepted definition of "Spanish society" in the New<br />
World colonies. This "cultural conquest" was nevertheless of extreme importance for<br />
the permanence <strong>and</strong> stability of those other conquests (Kellogg 27-46; Gramsci 12;<br />
Williams 108-110). It was an effort that involved particular policies of race, gender,<br />
language, evangelization, education <strong>and</strong> the construction of a hybrid colonial culture<br />
which still featured Spanish domination. An important aspect of that cultural conquest<br />
<strong>and</strong> hegemony was the area of food <strong>and</strong> food politics. These policies took shape in the<br />
context of the socialization, education <strong>and</strong> coming of age of the first two generations<br />
of mestizos in Spanish America, <strong>and</strong> involved ideologies of race <strong>and</strong> gender.<br />
The centrality of food to culture in Latin America is undisputed. Rigoberta<br />
Menchu in her testimonial book stated:<br />
[The child] is told that he will eat maize <strong>and</strong> that, naturally, he is<br />
already made of maize because his mother ate it while he was forming<br />
in her stomach. He must respect the maize; even the grain of maize<br />
which has been thrown away, he must pick up….To reach [God] the<br />
child must love beans, maize, the earth," (Burgos-Debray 13).<br />
However, while food is often seen as an aspect of identity, the<br />
important role of food in cultural hegemony has not been emphasized<br />
or analyzed in the literature. In addition the role of food in migration<br />
<strong>and</strong> conquest is important in looking at the process by which a new<br />
hybrid culture is developed. I will use the relationship of food <strong>and</strong><br />
culture to approach the issue of miscegenation <strong>and</strong> the influence of<br />
indigenous culture on the dominant "Spanish" creole culture in colonial<br />
Latin America (Kuznesof, 1995). 1 How did the evolving creole cuisine<br />
retain its "Spanish-ness"? To what extent was it indigenized <strong>and</strong> how<br />
was gender an important part of that process? I will also consider the<br />
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role of food <strong>and</strong> cuisine in the creation of creole identity <strong>and</strong> a<br />
“national cuisine”. (Pilcher ix)<br />
I. <strong>Food</strong>, Conquest <strong>and</strong> Culture<br />
The relationship of cuisine <strong>and</strong> shared meals to social organization has been<br />
noted by anthropologists as far back as Ernest Crawley (1869-1924). W. Robertson<br />
Smith (1846-94) emphasized the community bonds created through the sharing of<br />
food (discovered originally through analysis of the sacrificial meal). He argued that<br />
"the act of eating <strong>and</strong> drinking together is the solemn <strong>and</strong> stated expression of the fact<br />
that all those who share the meal are brethren, <strong>and</strong> that all the duties of friendship <strong>and</strong><br />
brotherhood are implicitly acknowledged in their common act" (Robertson Smith 247-<br />
48). A. R. Radcliffe-Brown saw the "getting of food" as a social activity, <strong>and</strong><br />
underlined the social function of food in socialization <strong>and</strong> maintenance of the social<br />
system. Taking this further Audrey Richards wrote about "the way a transaction in<br />
food acted as an indicator of social relations. For example, "the preparation of<br />
porridge…is the woman's most usual way of expressing the correct kinship sentiment<br />
towards her different male relatives," (Richards 127; Goody 13).<br />
Claude Levi-Strauss <strong>and</strong> Mary Douglas looked at food <strong>and</strong> how it was<br />
processed or cooked to discern meaning <strong>and</strong> a kind of language about social relations.<br />
Levi-Strauss argued that the ritual role of fire in the transformation of food made it a<br />
"human" endeavor. Douglas viewed the meal as a ritual act that includes elements of<br />
all other rituals <strong>and</strong> constitutes a social language about identity <strong>and</strong> connection (Levi-<br />
Strauss 1970; Douglas 1971).<br />
“The autonomy of the cultural” is the core of a debate among anthropologists<br />
about whether human cultures are formulated out of practical needs <strong>and</strong> environmental<br />
availability or if they are created through “symbolic, meaningful or cultural reasons<br />
which structure utility,” (Goody 32; Magagna 65). Carole Counihan recently defined<br />
food as a “part of culture that is central, connected to many kinds of behavior, <strong>and</strong><br />
infinitely meaningful. <strong>Food</strong> is a prism that absorbs a host of assorted cultural<br />
phenomena <strong>and</strong> unites them into one coherent domain while simultaneously speaking<br />
through that domain about everything that is important,” (Counihan 1513). “An<br />
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examination of food ways in all cultures reveals much about power relations, the<br />
shaping of community <strong>and</strong> personality, the construction of the family, systems of<br />
meaning <strong>and</strong> communication, <strong>and</strong> conceptions of sex, sexuality <strong>and</strong> gender. The study<br />
of food ways has contributed to the underst<strong>and</strong>ing of personhood across cultures <strong>and</strong><br />
historical periods,” (Counihan 1513).<br />
When considering this question of food ways in the context of the conquest, it<br />
is obvious that much in the preferences <strong>and</strong> taboos in both the European culture <strong>and</strong><br />
that of American indigenous cultures make no practical sense in terms of food. The<br />
primary food preferences of the Spanish <strong>and</strong> Portuguese <strong>and</strong> the indigenous<br />
Americans were most significantly tied to religion. In each case the primary food<br />
consumed by elites <strong>and</strong> the popular classes was sacralized: seen as being of sacred<br />
origin <strong>and</strong> importance. This was true for wheat <strong>and</strong> it was true for corn.<br />
The importance of corn to many of the food systems of the precontact New<br />
World is not news. Initially, however, anthropologists saw corn <strong>and</strong> the beginning of<br />
agriculture as related <strong>and</strong> therefore that the worship of corn had a material basis.<br />
However, anthropologists now argue that corn was for hundreds of years a minor crop<br />
before it rose to dietary, cultural <strong>and</strong> religious prominence. In addition, Christine<br />
Hastorf <strong>and</strong> Sissel Johannessen argue that maize (corn) was “an agent in the<br />
transformation of social <strong>and</strong> cultural identity” of these cultural systems (Hastorf <strong>and</strong><br />
Johannessen 427-443). They argue that maize has had extraordinary cultural<br />
significance wherever it is grown, <strong>and</strong> that much of this significance is because it is a<br />
domesticated plant that does not exist in the wild <strong>and</strong> has not since about 3500 BC<br />
(Long-Solis <strong>and</strong> Vargas 4). Corn cannot exist without the continued cultivation of<br />
man <strong>and</strong> therefore is essentially “human.” They also argue that it was not the most<br />
economically advantageous or productive crop, <strong>and</strong> in some cases was quite<br />
precarious.<br />
Corn figured <strong>and</strong> figures prominently in the cosmology of many Native<br />
American groups <strong>and</strong> every detail about the way in which corn is planted, harvested<br />
<strong>and</strong> treated in cultural life was determined by ritual (Johannessen & Hastorf 396;<br />
Bohrer 469-499; Sahagun). The versatility of corn was significant to its cultural<br />
importance. Corn was used as a drink, porridge, <strong>and</strong> the most important ingredient in<br />
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many foods. Before corn became the basis for the common meal <strong>and</strong> the tortilla it was<br />
already the basis for chicha (the sacred maize beer in the Chavin culture). Corn was<br />
also a crop that required intensive labor, both in cultivation <strong>and</strong> in processing.<br />
Women were intimately associated with the enormous labor of grinding the corn <strong>and</strong><br />
producing tortillas <strong>and</strong> tamales. A good housewife was defined as a woman who fed<br />
her family well. Newborn girls were told at birth: “Thou wilt become fatigued, thou<br />
wilt become tired; thou art to provide water, to grind maize, to drudge,” (Sahagun<br />
6:172; 10:12). Another indication of the high symbolic importance of maize is that<br />
corn ears are often found in burial mounds (Hastorf <strong>and</strong> Johannessen 427-443; Coe 9;<br />
Soustelle 145).<br />
Bread made from wheat had a similar level of cultural salience in Europe.<br />
Bread <strong>and</strong> wheat also had that dimension of versatility or ambiguity that came to<br />
signify sufficiency or prosperity. It stood for the idea of the just price <strong>and</strong> its<br />
availability was seen as a basis for the moral economy (Magagna 66). Europeans<br />
expected that bread would be available for a good diet, even that it should be an<br />
entitlement, <strong>and</strong> if it was not made available by those responsible for the bread supply,<br />
there could be protests <strong>and</strong> even food riots. Also, similar to corn, bread was the basis<br />
of sacred power. After the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, the official doctrine of<br />
transubstantiation determined that during the Latin Mass “the substance of the bread is<br />
transformed into the actual body of Christ,” (Albala 2). For Victor Magagna this<br />
cultural dimension was intimately related to the fact that wheat was a cereal-based<br />
food culture ubiquitous in Europe that also required milling <strong>and</strong> processing. This<br />
labor dimension then gave the producing household substantial rights in the chain of<br />
food production <strong>and</strong> distribution. The government was seen as responsible to fulfill<br />
the moral (indeed sacred) obligation to provide the people with bread.<br />
Jack Goody emphasizes the relationship of food <strong>and</strong> cooking to “the<br />
distribution of power <strong>and</strong> authority in the economic sphere, that is, to the system of<br />
class or stratification <strong>and</strong> to its political ramifications,” (Goody 37). This idea brings<br />
us to the relationship of food to power for the societies involved in the conquest. The<br />
Spanish crown was intensely aware of its moral obligation to provision the Spanish<br />
colonists in the New World. This was extremely obvious in the early years when<br />
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thous<strong>and</strong>s of sacks of wheat flour, along with wine, vinegar <strong>and</strong> olive oil were<br />
imported at royal expense. John Super describes in great detail the substantial efforts<br />
made <strong>and</strong> the expense taken by the crown to pass <strong>and</strong> impose regulations which<br />
ensured the production <strong>and</strong> distribution of crucial foods, including wheat <strong>and</strong> wine.<br />
According to Super, “This was seen as part of a broader commitment to an ideal<br />
community that would perpetuate the Spanish way of life,” (Super 40).<br />
Migration accounts of the Nahua people emphasize food, food preparation <strong>and</strong><br />
food consumption. These accounts demonstrate the importance of particular foods to<br />
the identity <strong>and</strong> survival of the Nahua people. The inclusion of food has been<br />
interpreted as an important metaphor of the successful continuity of Nahua culture <strong>and</strong><br />
religion (Moran 15-18). The Mexica identity included specific foods <strong>and</strong> particular<br />
uses of food in ritual. The appearance of food <strong>and</strong> maize as well as the presence of a<br />
metate or stone grinder in the glyphs of migration indicate stability <strong>and</strong> security for the<br />
Mexica as they established themselves in Tenochtitlan (Codex Azcatitlan 15).<br />
Elizabeth Moran argues that the Aztecs deliberately acquired territory that would<br />
allow them access to goods of significance to their culture. This was also seen as<br />
important to the economic <strong>and</strong> political success of the empire.<br />
In 1960 George M. Foster argued in Culture <strong>and</strong> Conquest that the<br />
development of what he called "conquest culture" involved several interrelated<br />
processes (Foster 227-229). Foster pointed out that Indians <strong>and</strong> Spaniards alike<br />
experienced the process of cultural change. Both Indians <strong>and</strong> Spaniards, when<br />
allowed choice, exercised discretion in accepting <strong>and</strong> rejecting cultural elements<br />
presented to them. Foster argues that time also influenced how the new colonial<br />
culture developed. The New World situation brought together Spaniards from<br />
different regions of Spain who also influenced each other. In the first years Spaniards<br />
came predominantly from Andalusia <strong>and</strong> Extremadura. For this reason, although the<br />
demographic mix of Spanish emigration was fairly balanced across regions over the<br />
sixteenth century, cultural traits from Southwestern Spain (the type of plow, for<br />
example) were those primarily adopted in the New World. In this first "highly fluid,<br />
formative period…in which the basic answers to new conditions of life had to be<br />
found, <strong>and</strong> a rapid adaptation to changed conditions on the part of both Indians <strong>and</strong><br />
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Spaniards was imperative" Foster argues that colonial culture was "blocked out" <strong>and</strong><br />
became "crystallized" (Foster 232-233). 1<br />
This analysis is also pertinent to the incorporation of indigenous cuisine into<br />
the Spanish creole culture, <strong>and</strong> of Spanish foods into the indigenous diet. According to<br />
Richard N. Adams, "The major change in the diet of Meso-America…is not a result of<br />
a gradual diffusion of European products into the older Meso-American system, but of<br />
a gradual <strong>and</strong> differential shift of the entire culture to a new tradition," (Adams 8). If<br />
some easily accepted food ways were transferred quickly in those first decades (i.e.<br />
chickens into indigenous culture; turkeys <strong>and</strong> tomatoes into Spanish culture), other<br />
foods less similar to that of the recipient culture took longer to be accepted.<br />
II. Spain <strong>and</strong> Mexico: pre-contact period<br />
<strong>Food</strong> is an important aspect of culture, though it is also unavoidably connected<br />
with climate <strong>and</strong> place. As Daniel Roche wrote, [eating practice] "is perhaps the<br />
domain in which needs, symbolic forms <strong>and</strong> class oppositions intersect with the<br />
greatest intensity," (Roche 22). In the early modern period biology (<strong>and</strong> nutrition) was<br />
seen as intimately related to the capacity for civilized behavior. The common Spanish<br />
idea of blood as a vehicle initially of religious faith <strong>and</strong> later as a mark of social<br />
condition is probably related to medieval physiological theory according to which the<br />
mother's blood fed the child in the womb <strong>and</strong> then, transformed into milk, fed the baby<br />
outside the womb as well. A child's substance was provided by the mother's blood.<br />
Hence purity of blood meant descent from Christian women (Bynum 182). The origin<br />
of the idea of "clean blood" dates from the emergence of the issue of religious purity<br />
in the fifteenth century (Kamen 321-56). That was gradually transformed into the<br />
principle of race. Consistent with these views was the belief that certain foods were<br />
appropriate <strong>and</strong> necessary for Christians <strong>and</strong> for a civilized life. Roche points out that<br />
"Religious metaphors <strong>and</strong> the terminology of the Gospels conveyed this cosmic<br />
symbolism: fishing, harvesting, the wine-harvest, the bread <strong>and</strong> wine of the Lord,"<br />
(Roche 247). Culinary customs related to Christianity were even imposed on the<br />
natives believing that this would allow them to reach salvation (Parasecoli in Kumin<br />
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191). There is a story that one Spanish priest "of more logic than orthodoxy" reached<br />
the conclusion that the absence of grapes <strong>and</strong> wheat in the New World meant that God<br />
did not intend that the indigenous peoples of America be Christianized (Crosby 71).<br />
The Spanish diet just prior to 1492 consisted of dinner (between 10 <strong>and</strong> 11 AM<br />
in the morning) <strong>and</strong> supper (at 6 or 7 PM.) Dinner was the largest meal. Elites would<br />
expect three courses, not counting soups, side dishes, <strong>and</strong> desserts. Quantity was<br />
emphasized over quality, but wine was a must. Among the popular classes there<br />
might only be one or two courses. Wheat bread <strong>and</strong> meat were the principal foods.<br />
Beef, pork, mutton, goat, <strong>and</strong> poultry <strong>and</strong> wild game were roasted on a spit, boiled or<br />
cut up <strong>and</strong> stewed. Stews were heavily spiced, reflecting the Moorish influence<br />
(Domingo 17-29). Vinegar, salt, cloves, cori<strong>and</strong>er, saffron, pepper, ginger, cinnamon,<br />
pine nuts, onions <strong>and</strong> parsley were frequently used spices. Olive oil was indispensable<br />
for cooking <strong>and</strong> flavor. Eggs <strong>and</strong> fruit (both fresh <strong>and</strong> dried) were accompaniments.<br />
Vegetables were few: onions, carrots, turnips, <strong>and</strong> cabbages were used but not<br />
esteemed. The only beverages were water <strong>and</strong> wine (Oliveira Marques 16-29). Only<br />
the elite had wine everyday, but all Spaniards regarded it as essential (Domingo 26).<br />
Furniture was scanty in the houses of both the popular classes <strong>and</strong> the elite<br />
prior to the sixteenth century. Benches were more common than chairs <strong>and</strong> often<br />
people sat on cushions or carpets to eat. Tables appeared in elite houses in the<br />
medieval period, but were seldom seen in the houses of the popular classes. Often a<br />
table consisted only of a board mounted over trestles, <strong>and</strong> was frequently carried<br />
from room to room. Round pieces of bread were commonly used as plates even in<br />
elite banquets. Silverware apart from spoons was rare before the eighteenth century.<br />
Most people carried their own knives. Often soup was served in large pots that served<br />
as a common bowl. Large goblets were used for wine. There was a custom of<br />
washing h<strong>and</strong>s before <strong>and</strong> after eating since the h<strong>and</strong>s were frequently used for eating<br />
(Oliveira Marques 28-30). In spite of the primitive trappings, the banquets of the elite<br />
were highly ceremonial. For example it was the custom to precede each dish, as well<br />
as the wine, with servants bearing torches under the leadership of an usher:<br />
Recipe for rabbit (16 th Century Treatise on Cooking)<br />
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After the rabbit has been roasted, sauté finely minced onion in butter;<br />
once sautéed, season the onion with vinegar <strong>and</strong> sprinkle in cloves,<br />
saffron, pepper, <strong>and</strong> ginger. Cut the rabbit into pieces <strong>and</strong> put it in with<br />
the spice <strong>and</strong> onion mixture to simmer briefly. Lay some slices of<br />
bread on a plate <strong>and</strong> top with the rabbit pieces. (23)<br />
With their arrival in the New World the Spanish fervently wanted to reproduce<br />
civilization as they knew it: that is a Spanish society with Spanish cuisine. <strong>Food</strong> was<br />
symbolically very important <strong>and</strong> banquets were the most common form of expressing<br />
identity, religious unity, <strong>and</strong> a sense of victory or celebration. As compared to their<br />
successful efforts to introduce the Spanish language to the colonies, the effort to bring<br />
food culture to the New World faced several challenges. An important early challenge<br />
was the absence of particular plants that were considered essential for a people who<br />
were Christian <strong>and</strong> civilized. Most important among these were wheat <strong>and</strong> grapes,<br />
with olives also high on the list of foods necessary for a civilized life. In the early<br />
conquest period Spaniards had little choice but to eat indigenous foods, especially corn<br />
<strong>and</strong> cassava. In addition, food preparation was universally the province of indigenous<br />
women, even in those instances when Spanish women were present. This factor also<br />
increased the probability that early Spanish households would essentially be<br />
consuming indigenous-style meals, or at least meals with indigenous ingredients,<br />
cooked in ways common to the indigenous people.<br />
The primary foods of Nahua Mexico included maize or corn (the most<br />
important), beans (frijoles), squash, many kinds of chiles, cactus (nopal <strong>and</strong> maguey),<br />
sweet potatoes, cacao beans, Muscovy ducks, dogs, turkeys, <strong>and</strong> large quantities of<br />
fish, turtles, salam<strong>and</strong>ers, <strong>and</strong> algae (Cook <strong>and</strong> Borah 134-35). The early Mexican<br />
was very frugal <strong>and</strong> most of the time ate a meager, but nutritious diet that emphasized<br />
simplicity. No breakfast was consumed; atolli, a maize porridge sweetened with<br />
honey was eaten at 10 AM after some hours of work, with a main meal in the middle<br />
of the day. Maize-cakes, beans, pimento or tomato sauce <strong>and</strong> sometimes tamales were<br />
the common fare. Rarely did any meat accompany the meal. Water was the common<br />
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beverage (Soustelle, 1961, 149). This ethic of frugality is demonstrated in the Codex<br />
Mendoza in which half a tortilla per day is prescribed for a child at three years of age,<br />
increasing to a whole tortilla for a four or five-year-old. From age six to age twelve<br />
one <strong>and</strong> one-half tortillas per day was appropriate (Codex Mendoza 72-77)<br />
The tortilla, "the culinary soul of Mesoamerica" was prepared with just three<br />
simple utensils: a cazuela (earthenware pot), a metate (grinding stone), <strong>and</strong> a comal<br />
(griddle) (Pilcher 11). The corn was soaked all night in mineral lime, which loosened<br />
the indigestible husks <strong>and</strong> added important nutrients. It was then cooked with lime in<br />
the cazuela. When the corn was soft, the cook knelt <strong>and</strong> laboriously ground the wet<br />
corn on a metate, a three-legged grinding stone. The smooth dough was patted into<br />
thin disks <strong>and</strong> toasted briefly on the comal. The tortilla could be wrapped around meat<br />
or vegetable fillings to form a taco. It was useful as an eating utensil or a plate. A<br />
family squatted around the hearth on their mats <strong>and</strong> quickly ate their simple meal.<br />
Most often the man of the house would carry his lunch with him <strong>and</strong> eat at his work<br />
(Soustelle 149).<br />
Dinner in the houses of the rich was much more elaborate, with many <strong>and</strong><br />
varied dishes. More than thirty dishes were prepared daily for Moctezuma. Before<br />
eating, the emperor chose whatever pleased him--turkeys, pheasants, partridges,<br />
crows, wild or tame ducks, deer, wild boars, pigeons, hares, rabbits. He sat down<br />
alone on a low chair <strong>and</strong> a table was put in front of him, with a white tablecloth <strong>and</strong><br />
napkins He was shielded by a screen <strong>and</strong> ate from black Cholula pottery (Diaz del<br />
Castillo 225-26). For festive banquets tamales were indispensable. Archeological<br />
evidence suggests tamales may have been consumed as early as Teotihuacan between<br />
c.250BC <strong>and</strong> AD 750. Tamales were made by spreading corn dough inside a husk,<br />
adding chile sauce <strong>and</strong> some bits of meat or beans, folding the packages up, sealing<br />
them <strong>and</strong> steaming them in an olla or large pot.<br />
Two beverages were important to Nahua cuisine: pulque <strong>and</strong> chocolate. The<br />
alcoholic beverage pulque was manufactured by fermenting the sap of the maguey or<br />
agave plant. This drink had an important religious role, as an offering to the gods,<br />
including the gods of drink <strong>and</strong> drunkenness. But the ancient Mexicans primarily<br />
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showed awareness of the danger of alcoholic intoxication (Sahagun; Soustelle 156-<br />
157). "That drink which is called octli," said the emperor to his people, "is the root<br />
<strong>and</strong> the origin of all evil <strong>and</strong> of all perdition; for octli <strong>and</strong> drunkenness are the<br />
cause of all the discords <strong>and</strong> of all the dissensions, of all revolt <strong>and</strong> of all troubles<br />
in cities <strong>and</strong> in realms." There were terrible punishments for public drunkenness,<br />
even by death. But pulque was not entirely prohibited: old men <strong>and</strong> women were<br />
allowed to drink, particularly on certain holidays (Soustelle 156-157). And pulque<br />
seems to have been used as a ceremonial means of sealing contracts such as the<br />
sale of l<strong>and</strong> (Lockhart 168-169).<br />
Chocolate was also a beverage of great symbolic <strong>and</strong> religious significance.<br />
Special pots, cups <strong>and</strong> spoons were made especially for chocolate <strong>and</strong> there was a<br />
particular etiquette in its consumption. It was flavored in various ways, most<br />
notably with chiles. It seems to have been developed as a food by the Olmecs, <strong>and</strong><br />
was passed to the Nahua by the Mayas (Coe <strong>and</strong> Coe 35-66). It was imported to<br />
Central Mexico from the Yucatan <strong>and</strong> Guatemala. Chocolate was symbolically<br />
associated with blood, <strong>and</strong> was restricted to those of high prestige <strong>and</strong> warriors.<br />
Those not involved in battle were not permitted chocolate. 1 Duran reports that<br />
ground cacao was made into wafers <strong>and</strong> issued to every soldier on a campaign,<br />
along with toasted maize, maize ground into flour, toasted tortillas, ground beans,<br />
<strong>and</strong> bunches of dried chillis (Duran 358). Initially the Europeans were not at all<br />
attracted to this black drink.<br />
Although the early Mexicans left no cookbooks, the Spanish priest<br />
Bernardino de Sahagun compiled a vast list of foods along with their appropriate<br />
condiments. The Nahua prepared turkey with several different sauces, including<br />
yellow, green, <strong>and</strong> red chiles. Yellow chiles <strong>and</strong> tomatoes were used to flavor<br />
white fish <strong>and</strong> fowl. Another red chile formed the proper sauce for shrimp, <strong>and</strong><br />
green chiles provided the natural spice for frogs (Sahagun 8:37-40).<br />
Theoretical Framework: Cuisine as Language<br />
<strong>Food</strong> <strong>and</strong> related practices include the accepted meals eaten during the day,<br />
the ingredients of each meal, how they are combined, the order in which they are<br />
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eaten, the context in which they are eaten, the utensils <strong>and</strong> furniture utilized,<br />
etiquette, <strong>and</strong> the question of who eats together. In addition, the meals of the<br />
popular classes invariably contrast with those of the elite. More elaborate rituals<br />
<strong>and</strong> manners are generally associated with the elite. Ceremonial occasions<br />
invariably called for more complex <strong>and</strong> symbolic meals with many more<br />
ingredients. In the fifteenth <strong>and</strong> sixteenth centuries eating practices <strong>and</strong> menus in<br />
Europe became much more sophisticated, so that important cultural change<br />
occurred in Spanish food ways even as Spaniards attempted to bring their food<br />
culture to the New World (Roche 237).<br />
In The Nahuas After the Conquest James Lockhart defined three broad<br />
stages in Mexican cultural evolution after the conquest, based on his analysis of a<br />
body of original Nahua documents over the period 1530 to 1770 (Lockhart 428).<br />
These were most specific with respect to language acculturation among the Nahua.<br />
Stage I included the conquest until 1550 in which there was little or no change in<br />
language. From 1550 to 1640 (Stage II) a variety of Spanish nouns were<br />
incorporated into the Nahua language. Stage III (1640-1770) included a full range<br />
of linguistic adaptation, though some words <strong>and</strong> certain grammatical uses were<br />
never adopted by the Nahua.<br />
For this paper I propose to view food ways as a kind of language, <strong>and</strong><br />
assume that assimilation of food ways underwent a process similar to that of<br />
language. In other words particular foods or main ingredients can be seen as<br />
nouns, cooking methods or combinations of ingredients as verbs, seasonings<br />
(including oil) as prepositions, <strong>and</strong> a meal might be a sentence or a poem. Spanish<br />
society might be viewed as separate from Indigenous society in terms of food ways<br />
for the first period. However, as time progressed there was a gradual mixing of the<br />
populations, both in residence <strong>and</strong> through miscegenation. A blending of food<br />
ways also took place.<br />
One of the notable aspects of this “mixing” process was that for both<br />
peoples--the Spanish <strong>and</strong> the Nahua--there were foods that were viewed as<br />
indispensable to their culture. The most important of these for the Spanish was<br />
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Cualli 139<br />
wheat for bread, the staff of life. Grapes (for wine) were also essential for religious<br />
<strong>and</strong> cultural reasons. Finally, olives for olive oil to develop the savory taste of<br />
Mediterranean foods were of passionate interest. In these three foods we see major<br />
elements of the Spanish diet. First, a major noun, the bread, that was the center of<br />
every meal for all classes of Spaniards. Second, another major noun, wine, the<br />
most desired beverage, which also carried major symbolic value <strong>and</strong> distinguished<br />
the elite classes. Thirdly, olive oil can be viewed as a kind of seasoning <strong>and</strong><br />
blending element for a dish, or following the linguistic analogy, as a syntax that<br />
serves to blend the elements of their diet together. In the case of these elements the<br />
Spanish went to extraordinary lengths to obtain these foods in the New World. On<br />
the other h<strong>and</strong> the Nahua peoples were adamantly attached to maize (their bread),<br />
beans, <strong>and</strong> chiles for both religious <strong>and</strong> cultural reasons. Chocolate <strong>and</strong> maguey<br />
(for pulque) fit into a special category since they were highly prized foods, but<br />
reserved for particular groups.<br />
The early period (Stage I: 1519-1550) was one in which acceptance of<br />
foreign food occurred primarily when there were no options (i.e. the preferred<br />
Spanish food could not be had), <strong>and</strong> the foods accepted were usually main<br />
ingredients. In these cases the Spanish would most easily assimilate a food similar<br />
to the one they were used to. For example there are many varieties of beans <strong>and</strong><br />
onions, some native to the New World, others to Europe. Thus beans <strong>and</strong> onions<br />
were somewhat familiar <strong>and</strong> easily incorporated into the colonial diet (Crosby<br />
172). There was no wine <strong>and</strong> the Spanish were generally forced to make do with<br />
pulque, made from the maguey cactus for dining <strong>and</strong> for communion. For<br />
example, what has been called the first Spanish banquet in Mexico took place<br />
about 1524. Pigs were brought in from Cuba <strong>and</strong> wine as a gift to the triumphant<br />
conquerors. Pork with chile was served in tacos, with hot tortillas. Wheat bread<br />
was not yet available. Still, the banquet (apart from the corn tortillas <strong>and</strong> some<br />
chiles) was essentially Spanish (Novo 29). At the same time the Nahua did quite<br />
easily adapt poultry <strong>and</strong> pork to their diet, incorporating them into tacos <strong>and</strong><br />
tamales.<br />
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Cualli 140<br />
In the next phase (1550-1640) a pattern emerges in which a variety of<br />
foods similar to those common to the other culture were accepted. For example,<br />
peppers, squash, beans, a New World onion, <strong>and</strong> chiles were incorporated into a<br />
Spanish stew (to substitute cabbage, turnips, <strong>and</strong> European spices.) By 1600 the<br />
Spaniards had been able to produce wheat <strong>and</strong> other European vegetables in the<br />
New World so there was a broader range of culinary choices. The Spanish form of<br />
cooking, types of dishes, <strong>and</strong> seasoning were maintained as much as possible. Poor<br />
Spaniards (of which there were many) tended to consume indigenous foods for<br />
reasons of economy.<br />
In the third period (1640-1770) dishes appear that exhibit more<br />
characteristics of hybridity between the two cultures. The indigenous seasonings<br />
(especially various kinds of chile) became prominent in Spanish Creole cooking.<br />
Tomatoes (originally feared to be poison) began to be accepted. Chocolate was<br />
modified with sugar <strong>and</strong> vanilla, <strong>and</strong> served hot, to become a prized dessert drink.<br />
After extraordinary efforts by the Spanish, <strong>and</strong> repeated failures, grapes <strong>and</strong> olives<br />
had been successfully introduced to the New World, making a "civilized life" (by<br />
Spanish st<strong>and</strong>ards) finally possible (Crosby 71-73).<br />
Another important element of the analysis relates to the question of "high<br />
<strong>and</strong> low cuisine." Pierre Bourdieu refers to the differences in consumption of the<br />
high <strong>and</strong> the low as the opposition between "the tastes of luxury (or freedom) <strong>and</strong><br />
the tastes of necessity….Thus it is possible to deduce popular tastes for the foods<br />
that are simultaneously most 'filling' <strong>and</strong> most economical…The idea of taste,<br />
typically bourgeois, since it presupposes absolute freedom of choice, is so closely<br />
associated with the idea of freedom that many people find it hard to grasp the<br />
paradoxes of the taste of necessity….[they fail] to realize that necessity can only<br />
be fulfilled, most of the time, because the agents are inclined to fulfil it, because<br />
they have a taste for what they are anyway condemned to," (Bourdieu 177-78). In<br />
part this reasoning relates to an argument Bourdieu makes earlier that "foods<br />
probably constitute the strongest <strong>and</strong> most indelible mark of infant learning,"<br />
leading to sustained nostalgia <strong>and</strong> thus an innate yearning for the food of early<br />
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Cualli 141<br />
childhood. Thus class in this case becomes a matter of taste as well as education.<br />
Jack Goody speaks of high cuisine as a level of art that is a product of the<br />
combination of a wide variety of foodstuffs, some imported, <strong>and</strong> the cooking<br />
traditions of several regions. In his view this really only comes to pass when<br />
literacy makes it possible to collect the food traditions of various areas. According<br />
to Goody, high cuisine is also distinguished (as for Bourdieu) by being desirable<br />
because of the pleasure of consuming food, rather than because of hunger. Thus<br />
for Goody, “the higher cuisine also incorporates <strong>and</strong> transforms what, from the<br />
national st<strong>and</strong>point, is the regional food of peasants <strong>and</strong> the cooking of exotic<br />
foreigners…Thus the higher cuisine inevitably had to acquire ingredients from<br />
'outside',” (Goody 98-105).<br />
The relevance of this theory about a distinctive elite (or national) cuisine<br />
becomes clear when we remember that both the Nahua <strong>and</strong> the Spanish were<br />
hierarchical peoples, with fairly rigid social rules. Interestingly enough, it may be<br />
that this similarity of the cultures was important in the development of what was a<br />
recognizable national Mexican cuisine by the end of the eighteenth century.<br />
Over the colonial period the Nahua peoples quickly adopted oranges,<br />
chicken <strong>and</strong> pork into their diet, but never developed an affinity for wheat or for<br />
wine. The Spanish against their will were forced to engage in wheat farming<br />
because of indigenous resistance to this crop, which was much less productive than<br />
corn or cassava. Corn, beans, squash, <strong>and</strong> chiles continued as the center of Nahua<br />
food culture. Much of the Nahua aristocracy was eliminated, or, if female, was<br />
incorporated into the class of Spanish conquistadores.<br />
The Spanish improved their diet in the New World through much greater<br />
incorporation of vegetables into their ubiquitous stews. Chiles as well became a<br />
common element, along with corn <strong>and</strong> squash. Some indigenous foods <strong>and</strong> spices<br />
were first incorporated into the European diet for their alleged medicinal properties<br />
(Acosta 177-78; 180-182). The fact that both the Nahua <strong>and</strong> the Spaniard<br />
primarily built their meals around stews <strong>and</strong> some roasted meats made this gradual<br />
approximation of the two food cultures much easier. The high cuisine of the Nahua<br />
represented by the more complex stews, <strong>and</strong> the use of chocolate was gradually<br />
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Cualli 142<br />
insinuated into Spanish food culture through occasional "inventions" for<br />
ceremonial occasions. By the end of the sixteenth century the day was normally<br />
begun <strong>and</strong> concluded with hot cups of chocolate, now permitted for all classes.<br />
Corn, beans, squash <strong>and</strong> chiles were an established part of the creole kitchen. The<br />
presence of indigenous women in Spanish kitchens no doubt helped immeasurably.<br />
Pulque also became generally available, <strong>and</strong> was gradually commercialized. 1<br />
III. The Story of Mole: Genesis of a National Dish<br />
Turkey mole is commonly claimed as the "National Dish" of Mexico, <strong>and</strong><br />
also as an "indigenous food." The origin or provenance of turkey mole is more<br />
than slightly controversial, though it really comes down to which ingredients are<br />
viewed as critical to the essence of the mole. Nahua women made their most<br />
important contribution through the "expert blending of chiles to create subtle<br />
flavors, a skill that Spanish nuns learned from their American sisters. Moreover,<br />
the metate remained the mole-making utensil of choice until the twentieth-century<br />
invention of electric blenders," (Pilcher 26). Its identity as a fiesta or ceremonial<br />
food for many occasions increases the proprietary sense of ethnic <strong>and</strong> regional<br />
groups about this celebrated food. Scholars disagree, pointing to the broad<br />
spectrum of ingredients that can be included, <strong>and</strong> the many regional variations in<br />
its preparation (Friedl<strong>and</strong>er 96) 1 . 1 Mole even appears in Europe, in the cookbook<br />
of Pope Pius V by 1570, <strong>and</strong> became known as an elegant banquet food but not<br />
extremely expensive (Vargas <strong>and</strong> Casillas 167). In a way it is this disagreement<br />
about origins <strong>and</strong> essence that permits both Nahua <strong>and</strong> Spanish to see mole as<br />
essentially theirs, <strong>and</strong> allows Turkey mole to be seen as a national cuisine.<br />
We know from Sahagun that the Nahua prepared turkey as a kind of stew<br />
with various chile sauces. Some also included various nuts, squash seeds <strong>and</strong><br />
vegetables. Such a dish is illustrated in the Codex Mendoza (Codex Mendoza 86).<br />
Also, Spanish cuisine featured stews with a variety of Arabic <strong>and</strong> East Asian<br />
spices. The existence of these dishes in each culture already gives each culture a<br />
reason to claim the mole as theirs.<br />
The first prominent Mexican story about the origins of the dark Mole<br />
Poblano (which Jeffrey Pilcher refers to as a legend) is that in 1680 the Dominican<br />
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Cualli 143<br />
nuns of Puebla invented Mole in honor of Viceroy Tomas Antonio de la Cerda y<br />
Aragon. Possibly the nuns, (influenced by the aristocratic Nahua girls being<br />
schooled in the convent), <strong>and</strong> in search of a dish that would be appropriately<br />
luxurious <strong>and</strong> stately for the Viceroy, came up with an elaboration of the most<br />
celebratory food that Nahua culture had to offer: the mole poblana. We know it<br />
was celebratory because it was featured as part of the marriage feast in the Codex<br />
Mendoza. The chocolate as an ingredient made it appropriate for royalty (there is<br />
no clear evidence if chocolate was part of the mole prior to the conquest).<br />
However, the inclusion of European spices such as cori<strong>and</strong>er, cloves,<br />
cinnamon <strong>and</strong> ginger made the mole familiar to the Spanish Viceroy. Jeffrey<br />
Pilcher remarks: "For mole poblano to have gained social status in colonial<br />
Mexico…it would have been seen as a Creole rather than mestizo dish. And<br />
notwithst<strong>and</strong>ing the New World chiles lurking inside, mole would have seemed<br />
completely appropriate for any medieval banquet," (Pilcher 42-43).<br />
The mole had to appear as a Creole creation, since the "mestizo" was essentially<br />
without social status in the colonial period. The genius of mole was that it had<br />
crucial indigenous characteristics as a cuisine, <strong>and</strong> was also credible as European<br />
cuisine.<br />
Conclusion<br />
This examination of food <strong>and</strong> identity in the conquest period in Mexico<br />
suggests that several factors were responsible for the successful creation of a<br />
creole cuisine that incorporated indigenous <strong>and</strong> Spanish foods. Similarities in<br />
modes of food preparation, an attitude of celebration <strong>and</strong> reverence toward food,<br />
<strong>and</strong> a relationship between social hierarchy <strong>and</strong> appropriate celebratory foods were<br />
all important in the evolution of a hybrid cuisine that would be seen as "national"<br />
by all groups. The influence of miscegenation <strong>and</strong> specifically the gradual<br />
infiltration of indigenous women through marriage <strong>and</strong> concubinage into Spanish<br />
society undoubtedly also were significant. The marriage of the tortilla with<br />
chicken <strong>and</strong> pork, combined with chiles <strong>and</strong> cheese; the knowledge to blend the<br />
flavors of chiles <strong>and</strong> spices on the metate; these factors resulted in a most<br />
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Cualli 144<br />
felicitous union.<br />
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