America’s First Cuisines by Sophie Coe

 America’s First Cuisines by Sophie Coe is a survey of the foods, plants, and dishes eaten by Maya, Aztec, and Inca people. The author is diligent in her caution of information, as most of the information comes from Spanish missionaries. 

By far the biggest achievement by these empires was the nixtamalization of maize, which significantly improved the nutritional value of it (p161). 

The book outlined general food stuffs first, then cuisines and preparations by Aztec, Maya, and Inca. Unfortunately, there was less information available about the Maya. The author also encountered quite a few documents which misnamed or mistranslated information, so sometimes the actual food eaten at a banquet could have been incorrect (p173). 

There are several cultural differences between the US today and the Americas pre-Columbus. Namely, we don’t have a staple food, like maize; we eat far more meat in general; we have notions of required parts of a meal for it to be complete, where Native Americans often ate tortillas dipped in chile sauce- no meat, a few greens maybe. Furthermore, the Native Americans of today-USA seemed to be small tribes. The Native Americans of Maya, Inca, and Aztec ruled tremendous empires.  

Miscellaneous facts: 

Potatoes date back to 8000 BC in Peru (p37). 

Wild peanuts and almonds were used for peanut or almond milk (p57). 

The famous triad of the “three sisters,” beans, squash, and corn, actually didn’t exist. If anything, it would have been maize, beans, and chile, but Europeans viewed chile as a condiment, although it functioned as a dietary cornerstone (p60). 

Montezuma was actually called Motecuhzoma (p107). 

There was a prevailing belief that life was a “ceaseless search for balance and moderation,” (p117). 

It took 200 years for Mayan civilization to fall (p177). 

One of the more remarkable facts about the Inca was how controlled the government was. They tightly accounted for food in storehouses, distributing it meticulously. It was only after Europeans conquered the Inca that people died of hunger in Cuzco (p293). 

Overall, this was a good, kind of dry but interesting content book. Thanks, Jeremy for the recommendation.