Saturday, June 30, 2012

A Dip From the 1500's

By Alejandro Mole


Guacamole is the dip made traditionally by the Aztecs, the earliest residents of Mexico. As early as Fifteenth century, this avocado-based sauce or paste was an integral part of the Mesoamerican delicacies. Historically, it was prepared by mashing ripe avocados by using a molcajete (mortar and pestle), sprinkled with salt and a few hot peppers for finishing touches. This historical avocado-based dip was the prized dish not just for the commoners within the Aztec empire, but of Emperor Montezuma.

When the Spaniards came to Mexico in 1500's and stumbled upon the Aztec empire, they had as well find the guacamole. The dip easily was a hit for the Spaniards. Its most important ingredient, avocados, grew to be quite prominent to the Spaniards additionally, the fruit has been deemed an important world food to them. This was exactly the beginning of the dip's reputation. The Spanish conquerors took pleasure in avocados in three simple ways, along with salt, along with sugar, or perhaps with either.

Why was It Named Guacamole?

The Aztecs originally named it "ahuacamolli" or "ahuaca-mulli", which literally means avocado sauce. The label has been a fusion of two Nahuatl terms, ahuacatl which translates as avocado as well as molli, which stands for sauce. Nahuatl had been the standard dialect of the Aztecs. Back then, the Spaniards were unable to enunciate ahuacamolli the correct manner. They enunciate the word sounding like "guacamole", so they wind up calling the dish guacamole. Some linguistic experts assume that the Spanish conquerors mixed the Nahuatl term ahuacatl to their own Spanish term "abogado"(lawyer) to call our favorite fruit, avocados. The Aztec word ahuacatl was utilized by the Aztecs in mentioning the fruit avocados, but it really literally translates as "testicles".

Yet another cause behind avocados' reputation was the truth that this fruit consists of the highest fat among fruits. The Aztec diet program was really low in fat compared with today's standards. It's not surprising how a fruit that supplied life sustaining fats and protein could develop into incredibly valued. The Spaniards stole the idea from the natives and brought it to their own country, Spain. They also changed the dip's name from ahuacamolli to guacamole. Aside from modifying the name, they also modified the original recipe by introducing onions, cilantro and lime juice into the dip.




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