Beverages of the Maya

The Yutacan heartland of the Maya empire is situated on a penninsula that juts out into the Gulf of Mexico. Other regions with similar foods and beverages, all within Mayan territory, are Belize and Guatemala. The traditional foods remain the same as they did a thousand years ago. The Maya, like nearly all the peoples of the Americas, depended heavily on maize, or corn, for sustinance, both in solid nutrition and as a basis for their beverages. Only people at the cold extremes of the Americas (such as the Inuit) could not depend on corn, the prime member of the Three Sisters of Americas foods. The other two, of course, are squash and beans.

In addition, the Maya made use of a wide variety of fruits. Many of these they turned into cooling fruit juices for those hot summer days. Some, no doubt fermented naturally, adding to their repetoire of libations. Tamarinds, avocado and plums were all native to this region of the world.

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Like the peoples of the Andes, the Mayans made beverages from corn, and probably much in the same manner. Some of their corn beverages were named atole (as were some sauces from this region). They had native honey from a bee which is not as prolific as the European honeybee, but it does the job well enough. Honey was used to sweeten their corn beverages, and they also used honey in another alcoholic beverage known as balché. This was made with extract from the bark of the balché tree (Lonchocarpus violaceus) soaking in honey water. Being a fermented honey product, it is essentially a mead. Balché was primarily intended for ritual purposes. It is believed that since the Mayan gods initially became inebriated after drinking it, that it was a holy thing to emulate the drunken gods in a ritual manner.

Most importantly, perhaps, the Maya made use of cacao for beverages, but that is the subject of another article in this series

References:
Yutacan: A Gastronomical Tour of the Mayan Heartland
MSN Encarta - Maya Civilization
Answers.com
Images: Wikipedia
Archeo Art Media and Web Works

More to drink!       

Chicha and Beverages of Peru
Beverages of the Maya
Aztecan and Southwestern Agave
Teas of North America
More Beverages from Around the Americas
Chocolate: A History (by Apo Mayta Huacac)

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