What Aztecs Were Eating Before European Contact 

Lol what a mad man. The Aztec saw the fungus on his corn and was like “fuck it, I’m eating it anyway”.

I love how, throughout all of time, and throughout all cultures, everyone had found fun in getting super drunk.

Mexican cuisine still one of the best in the world, thank you ancesters

I am proud to say I am Mexicano and hundreds of years later We still enjoy all these delicious meals and drinks!!

That green slime was "rediscovered" as spirulina, which turns out is an extreme superfood with most if not all the minerals and vitamins you need to survive as a human adult

AMazing the Aztecs accomplished this massive urban society with no wheels, no screws, no metal working, and no large animals like horses or oxen. All of that was built with physical human labor.

The spirit of the Mexican cuisine is alive in each one of the traditional Mexican cooks. I live in California USA and the number of authentic restaurants of Mexican food are growing like wildfire 😁

This is why Mexican Food is considered top gastronomy in the world! Thank you MesoAmerica! 👏👏👏 because of you I consume Tortillas, amaranto, chocolate, Pulque, pinole, pozole, Mole and atole everyday! But the Aztecs came much later than the great MesoAmerican civilizations! Like the Olmecs, Maya, Toltecs , Teotichucans and Zapotecs

Fungus: *kills the Aztecs’ corn Aztecs: “Joke’s on you, we’re into that shit”

I imagined Bubba from Forrest Gump in the Tortilla list part. “Tortillas go wit everythang, you can boil em, baste em, sauté em. There’s corn tortillas, flour tortillas, cactus tuna tortillas, fat tortillas, old tortillas, cube tortillas, lemon pepper tortillas...”

Actually pinoli are pine cone nuts! Amazing that the “poor” ate them😮 today they are very pricey and used sparingly in various recipes like pesto and desserts 😋

It shows the importance of their culture that literally all these preparations are popular to this day. 🤗💚

Imagine what the night sky would of looked like without light pollution.

In terms of food, seems we have the Aztecs to thank for a lot of what we consume today

It's great that unlike the Victorian era the Aztecs knew how to keep clean, not afraid of water in any sort of way, everything having it's proper place with waste disposal.

You forgot two very important ingredient for the Mexican cuisine then and now; Tomato (tomatl) and chili Pepper (chili). There are plenty varieties of peppers in around Mexico.

I don't think it was "tuna cactus" tortilla but rather prickly pear tortilla. In Spanish "tuna" is the name for the fruit of the cactus while the tuna fish is "atún"

There’s a really neat restaurant near the Teotihuacán pyramids called La Gruta, that serves very traditional Aztec dishes, including ones with caterpillars and ant larvae. Definitely check it out if you’re near the ancient city, it’s just a short walk away and absolutely worth the visit.

I've read articles on this topic, and the Aztecs enjoyed dishes that were as complex and multidimensional as French cuisine. They used more vegetation than meat, and layered many flavors into carefully crafted, hand-pounded sauces. They thought western cooking was too oily and lacked flavor, apparently. This is so fascinating, and although this video is quite simplistic, it does give a little window into the unique and well-developed aspect of Aztec life that has been much forgotten.

I’m Mexican descent and I didn’t know Aztecs had all these varieties of tortillas. When I was a kid I visited Mexico, and one of my favorite moments was when my aunt Paz sent me to the tortilla joint and I bought a kilo of freshly made, warm tortillas. I would grab one or two tortillas before going home. It was a cool experience and I would recommend anyone go get fresh tortillas 🤤

I still eat tamales, tortillas, nopales, avocado and chili peppers, grew up on this wonderful food and chocolate, I am so happy to watch this video. Thanks so much!

Little known fact: While feasting on chocolate, the Aztecs would often sit and ponder when the 90's Timeline Series would start.

Best fun Fact about the Aztec language is that the word origin for "Avocado" referred to "Testicals".

It’s nice to see that my family still eat a lot of these dishes in some sort of way ☺️ I don’t know much about my ancestors, but knowing this makes me feel wholesome.

Can you do a weird history on the domestication of animals?? I find it so fascinating!

It’s noteworthy to know that the ‘Aztecs’ and Nahuas also had these few foods to their diets: *Salsa:* “Chilmolli,” literally meaning “Chile sauce.” This was used just as much as a condiment as people do today. It is also thought the word “salsa” was coined by the Franciscan ethnographer and friar, Alfonso de Molina. *Popcorn:* Known as “izquitl” (eez-kee-k). Spanish people described it as “a kind of corn which bursts when parched and discloses its contents and makes itself look like a very white flower." This word turned into the modern Mexican corn dish, esquite. *Pozole:* This was a stew often called “pozolli” and was made from a hominy corn known as cacahuazintle, and back then as “cacahuacintli” meaning “cacao bean-like corn,” being a vegetarian dish. Many people get confused with another very similar soup that is infamous for its ingredients. Though, I’ll leave those details for those who are interested. *Chilaquiles:* Being wrapped in tortillas and is derived from “chilaquilli” meaning “something stuffed with chile and plants.” These plants are known as “quelite” in Mexico and are identified as edible parts of plants. *Fruits:* Along with the famous avocado being consumed, many other tropical fruits were as well. Pineapples (matzatli), dragonfruit/pitaya (tzaponochtli), sapote (tzapotl), cactus pear (nochtli), papaya (ochonetli), and guava (xalxacotl).

I love learning about ancient cuisine, and it seems like a lot of Aztec food and its flavors have stood the test of time!

Great video. I love how well you pronounce the Spanish and even Aztec words. It's odd, but even today people in Mexico pronounce aguacate the way the Aztecs pronounced it, despite the Spanish spelling. It's how we pronounced it as kids. In fact it wasn't till I was 9-10 years old that I realized it was called an avocado. Also, I believe one of the foods you mention at the end, atole, was in fact a quick meal. But instead of a TV dinner, I would compare it to a protein shake similar to what people drink on the go when they want a quick "meal". My great aunt made awesome atoles. My favorite was the chocolate flavored one known as champurrado. She would make a huge pot of it. And when she and her husband were the first on the block to get a color TV (I know I'm dating myself here), we would all gather around the television with a warm mug of homemade champurrado and watch "The FBI, in color" (a TV show that was on in the 1970s). There are so so many great tasting Mexican foods/dishes you just don't see or hear about anymore. Thanks for the memories.

Chocolatl is a badass and original way to say chocolate.

If you're ever in Mexico you have to try the quesadillas de huitlacoche, they are delicious!

Idk why as a Hispanic this makes me proud how these foods are so widely eaten around the world now.

The "Aztec" actually referred to themselves as Mexica (meh-SHEE-cah). Seems as though anyone reporting history would avoid such colonial disrespect

Also, for those interested, this is how you pronounce Nahuatl words ending in -TL like Quetzalcoatl and Xocolatl : The L is silent, but you still position your mouth as if you were going to pronounce it, but only let the air out, no sound.

These are way more interesting then the 20 classes I’ve had on the Revolutionary War.

So basically still many of the same foods we eat today!!! I love my Mexican culture and love how our foods are so delicious! Although will say I would never eat an axelotel nowadays 🥲

The stinking tortillas are actually a name for yucca/cassava/Manioc Tortillas

Not even 15 secs. into the video and you already showed the teotihuacan pyramid calling it "aztec". They were not the same! Teotihuacans and their civilization had already vanished from the territory when aztecs came down from the north (Aztlan). So, yeah, foreign people, the pyramids you want to come and climb are not aztecs. *sigh*

"So what do you think?" I always love when he says that at the end.

With all of the sweet things that can be found from farming and being a decent gatherer, it's amazing that without a single reference shown, that you determined their chocolate not to be sweet. So for anyone interested, the Aztecs did have sweet chocolate, and it was done through honey, papaya, other fruits they infused in the chocolate, they put peppers in chocolate, they put psychedelics in chocolate. This is all really easy to find, simply locate ANY University with a Latin American Studies department, and I am sure with the right credentials and communication, any of the experts in these fields can discuss real Meso American history, instead of the nonsense you spin into history as "Your fact."

I grew up eating many of these Foods. Fascinating!

As a Mexican, this all sounds delicious.

love the content mate, recon you could do more about eating episodes !

Chocolate was treated like gold.. they used to trade with chocolate as money/gold. Also, they forgot to mention 2 other big traditional meals: Mole (which includes alot of spices including chocolate in some) and other meal is Posole! My favorite! (They say that back then, they used to place the hearts of human sacrificed in the posole) I don't think that is true though. 🥴

Maaan you forgot to mention POZOLE! That is of the most popular Mexican dishes that we continue to eat today! 😂

Other Mesoamerican topics I'd like to hear about. How the Mesoamericans developed corn/maize from a wild plant to a cultivated crop and how far it spread in the Americas.

I find amazing that a lot of those food from centuries ago are still ate today! That's badass!

Pepian is absolutely delicious. So privileged to have grown up with a predominately Guatemalan background and their delicious cuisine 😋

This narrator makes learning history fun

Fun fact. They called themselves "mexicas" not "aztecs". And their language was called "Náhuatl".

Thanks youtube for making this a 'special' experience with a 20 sec ad with clumps of earwax, really improves the hard work of Weird History

The reason the drink made them drunk or sick was due to the high amounts of caffeine. Like super high amounts!

This is so cool! Would love to watch one about what ancient Filipinos were eating before the Spaniards and Chinese came. Since most of our food is either Chinese, Spanish, or US-influenced.

My favorites? Chocolate and guacamole! And, turkey! Suggestions: The mesoamerican class system. What was mesoamerican family life like? Mesoamerican dating, courtship and marriage. Was marriage between different social classes restricted or out right illegal?

Ive had an Mexican girlfriend for 3 years and im so happy that i met her i learned a lot about mayans and aztecs and modern mexico its roots and foods history and more she was from a big city Puebla i visited Puebla as well as Veracruz it will forever be in my heart mexico mexican people and culture despite we separated what can i say...viva mexico cabrones ! xD

Aztec food sounds fabulous, and I might experiment with ingredients I can source locally! I reckon I could cope with deep fried tadpoles on algae tortilla, but I draw the line at the crunchy axolotl heads! An interesting channel, and one which doesn't "talk down" to its viewers. Subscribed.

Videos like this make me want to cook, and then indulge myself.

I wish this narrator, narrated my life as it plays.

What a fascinating and informative short. I found their cuisine sooo delicious! 😋

How about a video about the Purepecha tribe? They lived on the west coast of Mexico at the same time as the Aztecs. They developed some metallurgy and used to pwn the Aztecs. They traded together sometimes, but although they warred often, the Aztecs never beat them. Their main god was a hummingbird and their capital was Tzintzuntzan.

I feel like this could’ve been like three times as long. Very much enjoyed ✌🏾

Your voice is so perfect for this channel! Love it,

The food episodes are the BEST. Please keep them coming!!

As a Mexican growing up my mom would beat my ass if I didn’t eat tortillas

Nowadays, we eat a variation of the tamale here in Brazil. It's called "pamonha" and it is made out of corn, sugar, milk and cheese cubes. We grate the corn to extract the "juice" from it, then mix with the other ingredients, and pour it into a little sachet made with the leaves that involve the corn cob. We cook it in boiling water and then eat it when it's warm. It's delicious!

OK, this was pretty great. A few notes: I’m disappointed you didn’t mention the Mexican name for turkey, *GUAJALOTE* , which sounds a bit like the noise a turkey makes. Atole is still used to make thick sweet drinks, served hot, that often accompany tamales. At Christmas time, there is a frothier chocolate version called champurrado. Insects: grasshoppers (chapulín) is to this day a source of protein (and a snack food) out in the countryside. But all in all, great video! The best I have seen of its type!

I think your pronunciation of intricate antique languages is quite impressive; my bet is that you’re a highly educated, accomplished iconoclast with a sardonic sense of humor and you could make the back of a shampoo bottle interesting! Thank you so much for sharing your incredible talents with us all. Happy New Year! 🎆

Correction: Maiz is not "now known as corn." Corn is what you call it in English, but Maiz lives on as the Spanish word for corn. And same thing with avocado. This video is informative but it needs to be a better job with explaining the history of words. If you go by this video, you dont learn that corn and avocado are the English for these words and that maiz and aguacate are modern spanish words.

Pepían is registered as a Mexican 🇲🇽 🙏🙏🌮🌯 indigenous traditional dish by UNESCO and it's origin is from Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla. It's a non spicy chilli type seed/sauce used as s mole variation. The Olmecs from Mexico were the people's that invented before the Maya's of Guatemala.

Lets not forget the tomatoe, pumpkings, beans, maize, chili, sunflower seeds, vanilla, hundreds of diferent fruits like dragonfruit or passionfruit etc, several cactus species and their fruits, ducks and fish from the lake. They had a very complete diet, and the land was very rich. Legend says that the emperor had a feast of 300 diferent dishes everyday.

Thank you for the video.

The Aztecs were overthrown by the Spanish, but their cultural legacy lives on especially in their cuisine.

The food there seems a lot more pleasant than a lot of the ancient meals I've seen or read about. I'm from Louisiana so I eat a lot of wild game, water animals... all of this food actually sounds REALLY good

I'm proud to say many of these foods were in my grandmother's kitchen when i was growing up in Michoacan

That was fascinating! Thank you for making this video. God bless you.

It was believed that the chocolate was a gift from the god Quetzalcóatl. Btw, chocolate and chili powder combination is actually pretty good.

And to this day we still eat many of these foods 😋

Getting to see a kid hand-make corn tortillas in Costa Rica was one of my favorite experiences traveling abroad. Such a simple, yet ancient act.

I appreciate those of us that find historic anything fascinating. ❤️👍🏼

I love learning about Aztecs!😁

Thank México for your favorite foods 👌🏼🙌🏼

Loved this video! Excellent job!

love your irony. Thx for these clips of yours.

I have an online Aztecs test tomorrow so this video is perfect timing thank you

Spaniards: what's this delicious green fruit? Aztecs: *laughs* it's called ahuacatl 🤣 🥑 Spaniards: Yummm... I love aguacate 🥑💕 Aztecs: *laughs harder* They have no idea we called it testicles 🤣😂

Todavia seguimos comiendo todo sin muchos cambios!, te felicito un video muy educativo!

Most Honored and revered Ancestors, thank you for showing us your ways, and may you rest in peace. Amen. Loving the soundtrack in the background, my dude! It's so soothing.

To be clear, an axolotl is a neotenic salamander, in this case meaning they retain juvenile features into adulthood, and for the rest of their life. It’s not just a young salamander, it’s a species that takes Peter Pan quite seriously.

Was anyone else too mesmerized by those transitions to pay attention to this video?

I’m really enjoying your channel. Very interesting stuff.

Take a shot every time “tortillas” is said.

I can still hear “ por eso no te llenas por que no comes tortillas 🤬” lol 😂

I wonder why an illustration of ancient Japanese rice harvesting was used to depict Aztecs?

Great information, thanks!

They had more types of tortillas than royal names. Edit: 333 likes.... What kind of demon are ya trying to summon? Tortillasor?

Mexican here, the word “ahuacate” didn’t evolve to avocado, that’s just the way it was translated, ahuacate is still ahuacate or aguacate.

That was a good video. Yo especializé en la educación español, and some of these foods are new to me. Ahora mi chamba es cocinero y quiero saber más de la cocina azteca!

Great video, you got yourself a suscriber.Just to add to the fun, tortillas were know by the mexicas (the name of the aztecs once they founded Tenochtitlan) as tlaxcalli. A dish from that time that also needs to be presented is mole, or mulli, well Pipian is actually a kind of mole, but this mix of spices was eaten by all the mesoamerican societies, and each region gave it their special taste. And you could do a whole video about pulque, which is still popular today, with the adding of many flavors, wich are called "curados". Also also, and even it's originally from Perú, the aztecs were very fond of peanuts, which they eated alone or as an ingredient (of many more) of mole.

Some of the images used in this film were Mayan, which are quite different in style to Aztec iconography.

I think a whole video about the nixtamalization process for corn would be really interesting. I've heard about how the discovery of this process was the reason for the rise in corn as a commodity in the new world.

Thanks for the info.