tongue, blood soup (made by mixing corn fl our with animal
blood), and bear meat; these items were oft en consumed as
part of religious ceremonies. Another important food item
among North American Indians was pemmican, made with
preserved meat and berries. Th e meat came from deer, elk,
rabbits, a nd, especia l ly a mong t he Pla ins India ns, bu ff alo. For
beverages, maple sugar–sweetened teas that might be made
from various savory twigs, roots, or leaves, such as the roots
of the sassafras tree, a member of the laurel family. California
Indians produced an early form of lemonade by adding citrus
berries to water.
Mesoamerican Indians developed a greater variety of
cultivated foodstuff s, in large part because the sparse des-
erts of parts of the region did not support as much wild
game or as many natura lly occurring plant foods, at least in
the abundance needed for populations to grow. One of the
most signifi cant developments in Mesoamerican history
was the cultivation of maize, or corn, a crop that was do-
mesticated from a native plant. By about 1400 b.c.e. maize
had become the most important staple food crop in Meso-
america, used to make bread dough and porridges. Corn
was especia lly va luable because, once dried, it can be stored
indefi nitely without spoiling. In addition to maize the Me-
soamericans cultivated and consumed numerous grains,
including millet, and beans. Uncooked beans contain natu-
ral toxins that make them resistant to pests and microor-
ganisms and have enzyme blockers that prevent them from
sprouting when dry. Th us beans, like corn, can be stored for
very long periods.
Other important food crops in ancient Mesoamerica
included amaranth, a coarse herb rich in proteins, amino
acids, and various vitamins and minerals and still a popular
food in modern Mexico. Vanilla was cultivated and widely
used as a fl avoring. So, too, were chili peppers, members of
the nightshade family of plants that also includes potatoes,
eggplant, and tomatoes. Historians believe that avocados
were grown and eaten in Mesoamerica as far back as 10,000
years ago.
Th e ancient Mesoamericans left another food legacy for
which many modern people remain grateful: chocolate. Th e
chocolate came from seeds contained in the fruit of the ca-
cao tree, which grew extensively in the more tropical regions
of Central America and Mexico. Historians believe that ca-
cao was fi rst cultivated and used by the Olmec in about 1000
b.c.e. Th e fruit’s seeds were extracted, dried, and roasted
and then ground on a fl at stone. Th e resulting powder was
then usually mixed with water to make a cocoalike bever-
age. Because the concoction was bitter, it was commonly fl a-
vored with herbs, nuts, seeds, vanilla, honey, and even chili
peppers. It was drunk primarily by the upper classes. More
widely consumed was cacao chicha, a fermented beverage
somewhat similar to beer and including the pulp that sur-
rounds the seeds. Cacao beans (as the fruits are oft en called)
were so highly regarded that they were sometimes used as a
form of money.
It is believed that the South Americans were the fi rst
to develop squash, prized as much for its edible seeds as for
its fl esh. Another important food item was the potato, fi rst
cultivated in the Andes Mountains some seven thousand
years ago, when people discovered that it was a highly dura-
ble crop that could grow at high elevations and in poor soil.
While potatoes are eaten throughout most of the modern
world, they were exclusively a South American crop until
the 16th century. Yet another important food was the pea-
nut, which is actually not a nut but a member of the bean
family. Archaeologists have discovered pots in the shape of
peanuts and decorated with pictures of peanuts in South
America dating to roughly 1500 b.c.e. Finally, an important
food crop in ancient South America was quinoa, oft en de-
scribed as a pseudograin, for while it was handled and used
like a grain, it actually consists of the seeds of a plant from
the goosefoot family. Th is was another food plant that An-
des farmers discovered to be hardy at high elevations. Qui-
noa is high in fi ber and various nutrients, and because it is
gluten free, it is easy to digest. Further, in its uncooked state,
it is extremely bitter, helping off er protection from birds and
other animals.See also agriculture; ceramics and pottery; children;
climate and geography; death and burial; economy;
family; festivals; government organization; health
and disease; household goods; hunting, fishing, and
gathering; illumination; religion and cosmology;
settlement patterns; social organization; storage
and preservation; trade and exchange.FURTHER READING
Jean Bottero and Teresa Lavender Fagan, Th e Oldest Cuisine in the
World: Cooking in Mesopotamia (Chicago: University of Chi-
cago Press, 2004).
Andrew Dalby, Siren Feasts: A History of Food and Gastronomy in
Greece (New York: Routledge, 1996).
Andrew Dalby and Sally Grainger, Th e Classical Cookbook (Los An-
geles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996).
William J. Darby, Paul Ghalioungui, and Louis Grivetti, Food: Th e
Gift of Osiris (London and New York: Academic Press, 1977).
Patrick Faas, Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient
Rome, trans. Shaun Whiteside (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2003).
Peter Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman
World: Responses to Risk and Crisis (Cambridge, U.K.: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1988).
Ilaria Gozzinni Giacosa, A Taste of Ancient Rome, trans. Anna
Herklotz (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).
Patrick E. McGovern, Ancient Wine: Th e Search for the Origins
of Viniculture (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,
2003).
Jane Renfrew, Food and Cooking in Prehistoric Britain: History and
Recipes (London: English Heritage Publishing, 2005).
Jacqui Wood, Prehistoric Cooking (Stroud, U.K.: Tempus, 2001).482 food and diet: further reading