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Ancient Maya - Food

60 second histories

This video covers:  A description of the crops the Maya grow and the food they ate.

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Corn is probably our most important crop. We harvest the corn and grind it into flour to make tortillas. We grow our own vegetables and have lots of different fruits too like pineapple and papaya. We also grow spices like chillies and cinnamon, which we use to flavour our food when we’re cooking. I like to eat meat when we can and it’s up to the men hunt for deer, ducks and wild turkey. We women cook two meals a day and tend to eat our main meal during the hottest part of the day, because it gives us a chance to get into the shade and out of the midday sun. One of my favourite foods of is chocolate, there’s nothing better than a drink of lovely hot chocolate and such is the importance of hot chocolate that we use it for celebrations and religious festivals. My favourite dish to cook is where we mix avocadoes into a paste, together with chillies and tomatoes, we call this Guacamole. You might have tried it yourself. My other favourite is a stew cooked in an earthenware pot; a duck stew with beans all scooped up with a corn flour tortilla. Mmmm yummy.
Eras: 
Ancient Maya
Topics: 
Civilizations
Farming & Food
Character: 
Maya Woman
Key words: 
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