Cacao, Chili and Maize

Semen Cacauatl erat illis pro nummo, & eo præcipua vitæ præmio, cum opus erat, comparabantur. duratq. in hodiernum vsque diem non paucis in locis hic mos. Quid ni? Quando quibusdam orientalium gentium Cochleæ Veneriæ, & alijs folia quarumdam arborum, & alijs alia pecuniæ gerunt vices. quin & ex eodem semine, quo commercia inibantur, feruebant emporia, & in varios dominos illius ope mercimonia transferebantur. concinnabantq. potum, nondum vini conficiendi ratione reperta, cum tamen nonnulla Vitium syluestrium, ac genera labruscarum apud illos suapte natura in syluis passim prouenirent, arboresque, & frutices, quibus aduoluebantur, vuis, acinisq. variorum colorum, & pampinis condecorarent, atque grauitate sua incuruarent.

The seed Cacauatl was for them in place of coin, and with it the chief [things] of life, as payment, when there was need, were bought. And this custom lasts up to the present day in not a few places. Why not? Since among certain of the eastern peoples Venus shells, and among others the leaves of certain trees, and among others other [things] serve the role of money. Indeed also from the same seed, by which trade was entered into, the markets seethed, and by its help wares were transferred to various owners. And they prepared a drink, the method of making wine not yet found, although nevertheless some [kinds] of wild vines and kinds of wild grapes came forth among them of their own nature everywhere in the woods, and adorned the trees and shrubs on which they were wound with grapes and berries of various colors and with tendrils, and bent [them] with their weight.

The seed cacauatl served them as money, and when they needed them they bought the necessities of life with it.1 This custom lasts to this day in many places. And why not? Among certain peoples of the East, cowrie shells serve as money, among others the leaves of certain trees, and among others still other things.2 This same seed was the means of trade: with it the markets bustled, and goods passed from owner to owner. They also made a drink from it. They had not yet found out how to make wine, although wild vines and wild grapes grew of their own accord all through their woods, decking the trees and bushes they climbed with grapes, berries of many colors and tendrils, and bending them down with their weight.

1. Cacahuatl, the Nahuatl word for the cacao bean, from which chocolate is made. The book spells it several ways.
2. Cochleae Veneriae, “Venus shells”: cowrie shells, used as money in parts of Asia and Africa.

De hoc celeberrimo semine, & quod in nostram vsque tempestatem, & nummi & vini apud illos subeat vicem, agendum est, ab ipsa arbore sumpto initio. Est ergo Cacaua Quahuitl arbor, amplitudine, & folijs mali Medicæ, longè tamen maioribus, atque amplioribus. fructu oblongo, Peponi magno simile, sed striato, & rufo, Cacauacentli nuncupato: semine Cacahuatl pleno, quod semen, vt diximus, Mexicanis pro nummo est, materiemq. potionis eidem genti gratissimè præbet. Substantia idem constat pulpa in dispares diuisa particulas, sed probè compositas inter se, tenera, multi nutrimenti, subamara, subdulcique & temperata natura, aut paululum frigida, atque humenti.

Of this most celebrated seed, and [of the fact] that up to our time it takes the place of both coin and wine among them, we must treat, a beginning taken from the tree itself. The Cacaua Quahuitl, then, is a tree with the size and the leaves of the Median apple, yet much larger and broader; with an oblong fruit, like a large melon, but striated and reddish, called Cacauacentli; full of the seed Cacahuatl, which seed, as we have said, is coin to the Mexicans, and furnishes the material of a drink most pleasing to the same people. The same [seed] consists in substance of a pulp divided into unequal particles, but well put together among themselves, tender, of much nourishment, bitterish, and sweetish and of temperate nature, or a little cold, and moist.

I must speak of this famous seed, which among them still takes the place of both money and wine, and I will begin with the tree itself. The cacaua quahuitl is a tree the size of a citron tree, with leaves like a citron's but much larger and broader.3 Its fruit is long, like a large melon, but ridged and reddish; it is called cacauacentli. It is full of the seed cacahuatl, which, as I have said, is money to the Mexicans and the stuff of a drink they love. The seed is made of a pulp divided into uneven pieces that fit closely together. It is tender, very nourishing, a little bitter and a little sweet, and temperate in nature, or a little cold and moist.4

3. Cacaua quahuitl, “cacao tree” (Nahuatl cuahuitl, tree). The citron (malum medicum) is a large, lemon-like fruit grown around the Mediterranean.
4. Doctors of the time ranked every food and medicine as hot or cold, moist or dry, in degrees from first to fourth, by its effect on the humors, the four body fluids that had to stay in balance for health.

Nascitur in calidis, feruidisq. regionibus, locis vliginosis, aquosis, & humectantibus. Acuta igitur ægritudine laborantibus, exhiberi solet ex eo semine parata potio, cui nihil præterea commixtum sit, contemperando æstui, ac feruori placando, & his quos calida intemperies epatis, alteriusuè partis vexat. Si verò quatuor granis vnica vncia misceatur gummi eius, quod vocant Olli, bibaturq. dysentericus affectus mirè coercetur. verum sunt gummi ipsum, ipsaq. grana prius torrefacienda. grana siquidem adeo pinguia sunt, vt exprimere, si libeat, possis ab eis oleum. gummi verò tenacissima, & valde glutinosa vi præditum. nimius autem huius potionis vsus viscera obstruit, colorem inficit, & ad Cachexiam, & insanabiles alios morbos ducit.

It grows in hot and burning regions, in marshy, watery and moistening places. To those laboring, therefore, with acute sickness a drink prepared from that seed is usually given, with which nothing besides has been mixed, for tempering the heat and calming the fever, and to those whom a hot distemper of the liver or of another part troubles. But if to four grains one ounce of the gum is mixed, [the one] which they call Olli, and it is drunk, a dysenteric condition is wonderfully checked. But the gum itself and the grains must first be roasted. For the grains are so fatty that, if you liked, you could press oil from them. The gum, though, is endowed with very tenacious and very sticky force. But too much use of this drink blocks the inner organs, spoils the color, and leads to cachexia and other incurable diseases.

Cacao grows in hot, sweltering regions, in marshy, wet and damp places. For people suffering from an acute illness, a drink made from the seed alone, with nothing else mixed in, is given to cool their heat and calm the fever, and to those troubled by a hot distemper of the liver or some other part. If one ounce of the gum they call olli is mixed with four grains and drunk, it checks dysentery wonderfully well.5 But the gum and the grains must first be roasted. The grains are so oily that you could press oil out of them if you liked, and the gum is very tough and sticky. Too much of this drink, however, blocks the inner organs, spoils the complexion, and leads to wasting and other incurable diseases.

5. Olli (also ulli), rubber, the gum of the rubber tree.

Sed quoniam, & compositæ, & simplices parari ex eo potiones solent, atque hæ non vnica tantum ratione, aut eisdem ex rebus, iam his iam illis floribus, alijsuè plantarum partibus in farinam redactis & adiectis, in eis enarrandis fuerit haud immeritò aliquandiu commorandum. Primum ergo potionis genus ex eo semine parari solitum, Atatexli seu madens dicitur. fit hoc simplex ex centum plus minus granis Cacauatl crudis, aut torrefactis, sed probè contusis, & commixtis ei portioni frumenti Indici, eo quo diximus modo redditi mollioris, quæ vtrisque manibus apertis, coniunctisque, & in capacem figuram efformatis, possit commodè comprehendi. si verò libet parare compositum, addes Macaxochitl vocatæ plantæ Xochinacaztli, & Tlilxochitl, quæ suis describuntur locis, fructus contusos, & commixtos reliquis, mox verò quantum satis sit agitatis. transferenda autem ex celsiori loco in aliud atque aliud vas, hæc potio est, donec spuma demum excitata, partibusq. pinguioribus, & ad olei naturam propè accedentibus, ad superiora eleuatis sorbeantur, tantumq. leuiora sunt, & gustui gratiora, vt seorsim maiori iucunditate degustentur. Vis compositæ est Venerem excitare, simplex enim refrigerat, atque impensè nutrit.

But since both compound and simple drinks are usually prepared from it, and these not in one way only, or from the same things, flowers now of these now of those, or other parts of plants reduced to flour and added, it will be not without reason to linger for some time in describing them. The first kind of drink usually prepared from that seed, then, is called Atatexli or “wet.” This simple [kind] is made from a hundred more or less grains of Cacauatl, raw or roasted, but well pounded and mixed with that portion of Indian grain, made softer in the way we have said, which can conveniently be held in both hands, open and joined and formed into a capacious shape. But if you like to prepare the compound, you will add the fruits of the plant called Macaxochitl, of Xochinacaztli and of Tlilxochitl, which are described in their own places, pounded and mixed with the rest, then stirred as much as is enough. This drink must be poured from a higher place into one vessel and then another, until at last foam is raised, and the fatter parts, which come near to the nature of oil, raised to the top, are sipped off; and they are so much lighter and more pleasing to the taste that they are savored separately with greater pleasure. The force of the compound is to excite Venus, for the simple cools and nourishes greatly.

Since both plain and mixed drinks are made from cacao, and not in one way only or from the same things, but with now these flowers, now those, or other plant parts ground to flour and added, it is worth pausing for a while to describe them. The first kind of drink made from the seed is called atatexli, or “moistened.” The plain kind is made from about a hundred cacao beans, raw or roasted, well pounded and mixed with as much Indian grain, softened in the way I have described, as can be held in two hands cupped together.6 If you want to make the mixed kind, add the pounded fruits of the plant called macaxochitl, of xochinacaztli and of tlilxochitl, which are described in their own places. Mix them with the rest and stir as much as needed.7 Then the drink is poured from high up from one vessel into another, again and again, until foam rises. The fatty parts, which are almost like oil, rise to the top and are sipped off; they are so much lighter and tastier that people enjoy them on their own. The mixed drink arouses desire; the plain one cools and is very nourishing.

6. Indian grain is maize. The book says it was first softened, in a way described elsewhere.
7. Mecaxochitl, a pepper vine; xochinacaztli, “flower ear,” a fragrant flower; tlilxochitl, “black flower,” vanilla. The book's chapter on mecaxochitl says it is drunk with cacao.

Aliud genus fit ex quinque & viginti granis Cacauapatlactli, totidem Cacauatl, frumenti verò Indici pugillo vno. huic nihil addi solet ex prædictis, illa siquidem calida sunt. ex hac autem potione sola infrigidatio, & nutritio quæritur. Tertium verò Chocolatl vocatum, paratur ex granis Pocholt, & Cacauatl æqua mensura, quod magnopere traditur corpora impinguare, si frequentius ea vti contingat. Ergo contrita omnia in fictili funduntur, agitanturq. ligneo pistillo, donec portio pinguior magisq. spectans ad aeream naturam innatet. quam seponunt, ac seorsim collocant, residuoq. immiscent frumenti prædicti emolliti pugillum vnum. Postquam verò in liquorem sorbitioni idoneum omnia sunt redacta, id pinguedinis quod separauerant, rursus commiscent, atque ita demum tepidum potant, aut alijs sorbendum propinant. Hectica febre consumptis, tabidis, atque extenuatis mirè vtile.

Another kind is made from twenty-five grains of Cacauapatlactli, as many of Cacauatl, and of Indian grain one handful. To this nothing of the aforesaid is usually added, for those are hot. From this drink, though, only cooling and nourishment is sought. The third, called Chocolatl, is prepared from grains of Pocholt and Cacauatl in equal measure, which is said greatly to fatten bodies, if one happens to use it rather often. So all [things], ground, are poured into an earthen pot, and are stirred with a wooden pestle, until the fatter portion, tending more to an airy nature, floats [on top]. This they set aside and place separately, and into the remainder they mix one handful of the aforesaid softened grain. And after all [things] have been reduced to a liquid fit for sipping, the fat which they had separated they mix in again, and so at last they drink it warm, or offer it to others to sip. Wonderfully useful to those consumed by hectic fever, wasting and emaciated.

Another kind is made from twenty-five beans of cacauapatlactli, as many of cacauatl, and one handful of Indian grain.8 None of the things named above is added to it, since they are hot; people want this drink only to cool and nourish them. The third kind, called chocolatl, is made from beans of pocholt and of cacao in equal measure.9 It is said to fatten the body a great deal if one drinks it often. All the ingredients are ground, put into an earthen pot and stirred with a wooden pestle until the fatter, lighter part floats to the top. They skim this off and set it aside, and into the rest they mix a handful of the softened grain. When everything has become a liquid thin enough to sip, they stir the fat they had set aside back in. Then at last they drink it warm, or offer it to others to drink. It is wonderfully good for people worn out, wasted and thin from a lingering fever.10

8. A tree the chapter groups with cacao and calls quauhpatlachli, with larger and sweeter seeds.
9. Pochotl (here misprinted pocholt), the ceiba or silk-cotton tree.
10. Hectica febris, a slow, wasting fever.

Aliud genus Tzene dictum, paratur ex frumenti Indici, & Cacauatl æquis portionibus torrefactis, & modica quadam eiusdem frumenti emolliti parte decoctis, donec sorberi possint. quæ demum refrigescentia, nutrimenti, non medicamenti vices gerunt. Seritur iuxta Quahucacauatl vmbræ gratia arbos Atlinam vocata, nullius præterea, quod nouerim, vsus.

Another kind called Tzene is prepared from Indian grain and Cacauatl in equal portions, roasted, and boiled with a certain moderate part of the same softened grain, until they can be sipped. These at length, being cooling, serve in the place of nourishment, not of medicine. Beside the Quahucacauatl, for the sake of shade, a tree called Atlinam is planted, of no use besides, that I know of.

Another kind, called tzene, is made from Indian grain and cacao in equal parts, roasted, and boiled with a little of the same softened grain until it can be sipped. Being cooling, these drinks serve as food, not medicine. Beside the quahucacauatl they plant a tree called atlinam for shade; as far as I know it has no other use.11

11. Quauhcacauatl, “tree cacao,” the largest of the four kinds of cacao tree the chapter lists.

CHILLI, seu Piper Mexicanum, planta est ferens siliquas illas, quæ ab Haitinis Agies, ab antiquis, vt quidam volunt, siliquastra, & ab Hispanis Piper Indicum vocatur, & Capsicum ab Actuario nuncupatur. quæ licet diù in nostrum orbem translata sit, ibiq; & in hortis, & in vasis fictilibus, ornamenti & vsus gratia seratur, & habeatur in delicijs, tamen quoniam apud Indos multo plura eorum genera reperiuntur, & orexi excitandæ, commendandisq; ferculis suppetias ferat, adeo vt nullam sit reperire mensam sine Chilli, atque ideo quotidiano experimento sint illius facultates notissimæ, adductus sum non modo differentias, quæ in noua Hispania proueniunt, de quibus modo agitur, verum specierum fere omnium, quæ adhuc ad manus nostras peruenerunt, exhibere imagines, formas describere, vniuersamq; facultatem, & naturam tradere posteritati.

Chilli, or Mexican pepper, is a plant bearing those pods which by the Haitians [are called] Agies, by the ancients, as some would have it, siliquastra, and by the Spaniards is called Indian pepper, and by Actuarius is named Capsicum. Which, although it has long since been carried over into our world, and there is sown both in gardens and in earthen pots, for the sake of ornament and of use, and is held among delights, nevertheless, because among the Indians many more kinds of them are found, and it brings help to exciting appetite and to commending dishes, so that there is no table to be found without Chilli, and therefore its powers are very well known by daily experience, I have been led not only to show the kinds which come forth in New Spain, of which [we] are now treating, but the pictures of almost all the species which have so far come into our hands, to describe their forms, and to hand down to posterity their whole power and nature.

Chilli, or Mexican pepper, is the plant that bears the pods that the people of Haiti call agies, which some say the ancients called siliquastrum, the Spaniards call Indian pepper, and Actuarius named capsicum.12 It was brought to our part of the world long ago, and there it is grown in gardens and in pots, for ornament and use, and is much prized. Yet the Indians have many more kinds of it. It so stirs the appetite and makes dishes tasty that no table is found without chilli, and its powers are well known from daily experience. So I have decided to show not only the kinds that grow in New Spain, which are my subject here, but pictures of almost all the kinds that have come into our hands so far, to describe their forms, and to pass on to later times all their powers and nature.

12. Haiti is the island of Hispaniola, and ají was the Taíno word for chili. Actuarius was John Zacharias Actuarius, a Byzantine physician of about 1300.

Cunctorum ergo generum folia Solano similia sunt, & pene paria (si Quauhchilli excipias, quæ minora eadem fert) & flores candidi. è quibus siliquæ oriuntur, primo virides, mox maiori ex parte in rubrum, & demum in passeum inclinantes colorem, refertæ paruo semine, exili, candicante, contuso, atque in orbem efformato, acris gustus, atque vrentis naturæ; quæ ad semen præcipue attinet. Quartum hæ caloris gradum attingunt, & tertium fere siccitatis. etsi recentes excrementitio quodam humore abundant, qui totus pene vetustate euanescit.

The leaves of all the kinds, then, are like Solanum, and almost equal (if you except Quauhchilli, which bears the same smaller), and the flowers white; from which pods arise, first green, then for the greater part inclining to red, and at last to a raisin color, filled with small seed, slender, whitish, pressed, and formed into a circle, of sharp taste and of burning nature; which pertains especially to the seed. These reach the fourth degree of heat, and about the third of dryness, although fresh they abound in a certain excremental moisture, which almost all vanishes with age.

The leaves of all the kinds are like nightshade and nearly the same size, except those of quauhchilli, which are smaller.13 The flowers are white. From them grow pods, green at first, then mostly turning red and at last the color of raisins. They are full of small, thin, whitish seeds, flat and round, sharp to the taste and burning in nature; the seed above all is like this. The pods reach the fourth degree of heat and about the third of dryness, although when fresh they are full of a waste moisture, which almost all disappears with age.

13. Quauhchilli, “tree chili,” the first kind the chapter goes on to describe. Nightshade (Solanum) belongs to the same plant family as the chili.

Tlaolli ergo à nobis dictum Maizium (notior enim, & vulgatior est hæc vox) à quibusdam recentiorum, Frumentum Turcicum, ab alijs verò consultius, Indicum appellatum, vt formam silentio toti iam cognitam mundo transigam, multas habet differentias (siluestre enim Maizium seorsim describetur) à colore, magnitudine, & mollitudine granorum, quibus spicæ ipsæ stipantur, desumptas. Reperias enim quamplurimas granis constantes albis, alias pallentibus, nigris multas, quasdam purpureis, nec paucas, flauis, cyaneis, & multorum colorum permixtis; demum alias quæ licet granis candentibus, vt priores constent, longè tamen ea habent maiora, teneriora, ac triplo maiori spicæ inhærentia.

Tlaolli, then, called by us Maizium (for this word is better known and more common), by some of the more recent [writers] Turkish grain, by others more wisely called Indian, to pass over in silence its form, now known to the whole world, has many differences (for wild Maizium will be described separately) taken from the color, size and softness of the grains with which the ears themselves are packed. For you may find very many consisting of white grains, others of pale, many of black, some of purple, not a few of yellow, of blue, and of many colors mixed; finally others which, although they consist of shining white grains like the former, yet have them much larger, more tender, and attached to an ear three times larger.

Tlaolli, which I call maize (since this word is better known and more widely used), some recent writers call Turkish grain, and others, more wisely, Indian grain.14 I will say nothing of its shape, which the whole world knows by now. It comes in many kinds (wild maize will be described separately), which differ in the color, size and softness of the grains packed on the ears. You can find a great many ears with white grains, others with pale ones, many with black, some with purple, and quite a few with yellow, blue and many colors mixed. And there are others with white grains like the first, but much larger and more tender, set on an ear three times as big.

14. Tlaolli, Nahuatl for shelled maize. Maizium comes from mahiz, the Taíno word the Spaniards learned in the Caribbean.

Seritur Martio, in singulas scrobes, inter se passum vnum distantes, quaternis quinisve granis coniectis, & reponitur Nouembri, Decembri, & Ianuario, repastinato solo. etsi pro varietate regionum, quæ apud hos Indos, ob dierum noctiumq; pene æquale interuallum, & varios Solis situs, modicis spatijs mirum in modum euariant, tardius citiusq; solet demessum trituratumq; recondi.

It is sown in March, in single holes a pace distant from each other, four or five grains thrown in, and it is stored in November, December and January, the soil having been dug again. Although, according to the variety of regions, which among these Indians, because of the nearly equal interval of days and nights and the various positions of the sun, vary wonderfully within moderate spaces, it is usually reaped and threshed and stored later or sooner.

It is sown in March, four or five grains to a hole, with the holes a pace apart, and the soil is hoed again; it is harvested in November, December and January. But it is reaped, threshed and stored earlier or later depending on the region. Here among the Indians, regions differ remarkably within short distances, because day and night are nearly equal in length and the sun stands at different heights.