Blurb:

This chapter presents the origin and transformations of cacao from a liquid Aztec food to a sweet confection. Through this trajectory students learn about cultures in contact and transculturation in a very tangible way. The chapter also includes text on the chocolate controversy. As a colonial and then a European food, chocolate was the subject of much debate on its purported virtues and evils, on whether it was a female or male food, and furthermore on whether it was solid food or a drink for the purposes of church laws on fasting. The chapter also discusses the uses of corn alongside chocolate in the preparation of drinks and then moves on to consider the joint centrality of corn in the Aztec and Maya diets, as well as in contemporary Latin America. In this vein, the chapter discusses the importance of corn and chocolate in the making of a typical Colombian breakfast. This is one of students’ favorite chapters.


Este capítulo trata sobre la importancia del chocolate y su paso de bebida azteca, relacionada con las clases privilegiadas y el mundo masculino, a ser un dulce sólido identificado por los europeos con el mundo femenino y, más tarde, con el conservadurismo político. El capítulo también explica las formas de vida aztecas y sus usos alimentarios, incluyendo la práctica de naxtamalización del maíz. Se incluyen importantes textos de la época que describen los banquetes aztecas y la extensión y riqueza de sus mercados.