Basic Aztec facts: AZTEC FOODS

Yes. In basic terms ‘For the ordinary people even the main meal of the day was a simple affair of tortillas or maize cakes with beans and perhaps a spicy sauce of tomatoes or chilli peppers... the midday meal was also the last, except for a bowl of gruel made from amaranth, sage, or maize, which was taken just before going to bed’. In contrast, nobles and wealthy Aztecs had access to all the foods listed in our article above plus oysters, crabs, turtles and sea fish imported from the coast. For the rich ‘night was a time for feasting and party-giving...’ (Warwick Bray).

Good question. Leprosy - known before contact by its Nahuatl term teococoliztli or ‘divine illness’ - was certainly a very real and contagious illness, but there’s no evidence it was in any way associated with armadillos. By its name you can tell that the Aztecs believed it was something inflicted on humans by gods - indeed Fray Durán reported that it was specifically sent by the gods as a punishment for anyone who didn’t confess and cleanse themselves of their sins. So it had a ‘divine’ cause, but it could be treated with local herbal medicines - specifically yauhtli and iztauhyatl. It was believed to be caused also in part by exposure to (too much) cold, and thus it could be treated with herbs that have ‘hot’ associations. Iztauhyatl, incidentally, is still used today in ritual cleansing called limpias.

Yes, several! Please see the short answer on this by Professor Barbara Mundy, in our ‘Ask the Experts’ section, here -
https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/ask-experts/aztec-recipes-still-used-today

The New World domesticated its own beans, belonging to the American genus Phaseolus. Of the roughly 150 species of Phaseolus, 67 come from Mexico! Four main species - all of which grow in different colours - were domesticated in the New World. In Mexico two predominated: the larger (runner) ayocote, and the small ‘common’ black bean, simply known as frijol in Mexico, technically it’s called Phaseolus vulgaris.

Not significantly, as maize (corn) was harvested several times a year. Having said that, there was always a ‘lean’ time of year, around June/July (end of the dry season) when food was scarce, and they had to scrounge around for whatever they could find. What DID change with the seasons was (migratory) birds. Jacques Soustelle writes: ‘In the 16th century the people still drew a considerable share of their food from these birds, which, at given seasons, arrived in hosts to settle on the water and make their nests in the reeds and the rushes.’

Yes! Deer, peccary, rabbit, armadillo, hare, coyote, gopher, iguana lizard, wild guinea pig, waterfowl and birds of all kinds...

They didn’t have wheeled carts, so everything had to be carried on men’s backs, using ‘tumplines’ (large carrying baskets strapped round the forehead). For more info, follow -
https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/artefacts/carrying-frame.

It was women who prepared food, and taught their daughters to do the same. Women played a crucial role in catering on a massive scale for the Aztec army...

Your face is cringy!