Did you know that the first people known to have used the peanut were the Mayans of Mexico? International explorers first recorded the peanut in Haiti, but were told it had originally been taken from the Mayan lands. The Mayans called it ” cocoa de la tierra“, because it is harvested from the ground. In fact […]
Continue ReadingIn the second half of the 18th century both the Russians and the British began to penetrate into the Alaskan peninsula, an area considered a Spanish possession as Spain was credited with “discovering” the American continent. Spain soon sent orders to “New Spain”, Mexico, to go and reassert its possession of this part of the […]
Continue ReadingDid you know that among the many things Mexico has given to the world, chewing gum is one of them? El Tzictlil, a Nahuatl word for resin from the Zapote Blanco tree, caught the attention of three American travellers, Thomas Adams, John Colgan and William Wrigley who noticed that the resin hardened when exposed to […]
Continue ReadingThe ancient game of amalla was not mere sport. The ballcourt was a “middleworld” between gods and humans, a battleground for the cosmic tension between life and death, good and evil, sacrifice and rebirth. After all, the Maya Hero Twins — Hunahpu and Xbalanque — had outsmarted the Lords of Death on the ballcourt by replacing a […]
Continue ReadingOne of the greatest gifts the Indigenous peoples of Mexico shared with the world was their discovery and cultivation of natural fibers. One of these, henequén, continues to be used throughout the world for manufacturing and industry. Found originally in the eastern part of the Yucatán peninsula, henequén was used by the Maya and Inca for ropes, cables, nets, […]
Continue ReadingFrom the late 17th century and throughout the 18th, Castille soap was the reigning soap of Europe. It surpassed even the French soaps that, at their peak, were considered supremely prized elements of the wealthy person¹s toiletry. The formula for Castille soap was a highly guarded secret in Spain, primarily because of its financial viability […]
Continue ReadingMuch of the world has heard about the legendary “Mexican Jumping Bean”, the small seed that resembles the common “frijole” or bean, that, when warmed by the heat of the sun or when held in the palm of the hand, moves violently and sometimes jumps into the air. (The French call them “haricots sauters”.) The secret of the […]
Continue ReadingDid you know that one of the highest, most elegant and sumptuous arts of pre-Conquest Mexico was arteplumaria, the art of feather painting? Used to decorate headdresses, standards, staffs, lances, fans, bracelets, and sandals, arteplumaria was also employed to cover every one of the pre-Cortez ceremonial shields ever recovered or recorded. This rare type of ornamentation was […]
Continue ReadingConsider El Tajin’s famous pyramid of the Niches, built by inheritors of the Olmec culture. Thousands of small stone blocks came together just so, like a Chinese block puzzle, to produce a structure that rises 20 meters in seven tiers. A staircase climbs the eastern face. Curiously, there are 365 square recesses set into the […]
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Nochebuena, the Mexican name of the flower English-speakers call poinsettia, was discovered in Taxco and the valleys surrounding Cuernavaca. Known by the Aztecs in their native Nahuatl language as cuetlaxochitl, it is believed that they brought the plant from the tropical climate of Cuernavaca to their Aztec highlands for cultivation in special nurseries. Prized in […]
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