Tamales
Deities
There are three Gods that had tamales at their festivals or were used for other offerings. The Mexica offered them different types of tamales that have specific meanings and are only eaten during particular festivals. The first God that I will discuss is Xiuhteuctli, who is the God of Fire but is also known as Ixcozauhqui, which means "yellow-faced," and Cuezaltzin, which means "flame of fire." His additional name is Huehueteotl, which means "the ancient god." The description of why he is a God is different from the Spanish translation of the Nahuatl in the Florentine Codex. According to the Spanish translation, he produced fire and caused fear to them, but he also evokes love by being able to heat things, such as baths and food. In contrast, the Nahuatl considered him a God because "he burned one, he consumed one, he signed one, he scorched the fields...was he useful; for with him one was warmed, things were cooked." While both discuss how he is good and evil, how he became a God is told differently. Xiuhteuctli had a festival dedicated to him each year at the end of the eighteenth month called Izcalli. There was a ceremony to honor him as a God during this festival. Each dwelling would have tamales stuffed with greens, which was only offered during this time. The tamales were first laid on the fire, and then they were eaten. Reaching your hand onto the grille was forbidden, in the case of someone burning themselves on the flame. Tamales were also offered to Xiuhteuctli because they had to be cooked on a flame.
The second Goddess that I will talk about is Cihuapipiltin. There are two different interpretations of the Goddess Cihuapipiltin, one stating that they are the Goddess that is for all the women who have died during childbirth. What was different was that in the Nahuatl translation of the Florentine Codex. That translation stated, "There were five devils, whose images were of stone." Also, there were five Goddesses in the Nahuatl, while the other interpretation was that the woman who died of childbirth was then turned into a Goddess, and they all traveled through the air and lived wherever they chose to. Food offerings were placed at their temple or at the crossroads they traveled during their festival and feast day. The tamales that were placed at their temple were called xucuichtlamatzoalli. These small tamales were only used in this offering to the Goddesses. They also don't talk about what type of tamales were offered during this ceremony, only that they were small. At the same time, it doesn't discuss whether the Mexcia ate the tamales. It only talks about how they were used as offerings to these Goddesses.
The last God that I will discuss is Macuilxochitl, which means "five flowers," also known as Xochipilli, which means "the noble who gives flowers" or "who is in charge of giving flowers." There was a festival that celebrated him called Xochilhuitl, which means "The Festival of Flowers." Before the festival, they were too fast for four days before the feast. They also have to withstand intercourse, or they would be considered greedy to Macuilxochitl, and he would then give them a sickness. The translation for this deity and the information provided in the Codex was very similar to both the Nauhtal and the Spanish. On the fifth day of the fast, they would have the feast day for Macuilxochitl. One would dress up in his garments to represent Macuilxochitl during his feast day. They would then sacrifice people who had been captured or enslaved. Then, he would also perform a ceremony in which they made five tamales for him, called fasting food. These were large tamales that were then placed on a flowery arrow and then placed at the temple as an offering. They also made five smaller tamales that came with a sauce on a wooden board. The sauce served with the tamales was called chilmolli, a spicy sauce. While researching this sauce, it is said that it is mole mixed with chili spices, and mole is a sauce that is traditionally made with chocolate. These tamales didn't have a specific filling but what was important about these tamales was their quantity.
Ceremonies
The first ceremony I will discuss is one in which tamales appear as an offering and an essential part of the ceremony. The first is the Feast in honor of the newborn child, and the Spanish translations talk about how it was the child's baptism. They don't specify how the child was baptized, but they talk more about the Feast that happens after the child is baptized. The nobles would sit in the inner circle, and then the lesser ranks would crowd around and try to get closer to the nobles and rank members. They would then smoke tobacco while the food was being prepared, and in the images of this Feast, there were tobacco pipe glyphs. The older woman would then prepare tamales and wrap them in husks. Several different tamales were made for this Feast. The first one was a white tamale that had beans on top in the form of a shell to help distinguish which tamales had the bean filling. The second tamale that was made was a meat tamale. Each of these tamales was made with dried-up maize for the outer layer to hold the filing. Some tamales were made in ollas, clay pots commonly used by the Mexcia. They also washed the maize in lime before molding the tamales. Then, the food was placed onto straw mats, and the Feast would begin. Then, after the Feast, more tobacco would be smoked, and chocolate would be served. What was interesting about researching this festival is that there wasn't any translation besides the Nahuatl in some sections about the Feast.The second ceremony I will discuss is the Uauhquitamalqualiztli, "The Eating of the Tamales Stuffed with Amaranth Greens." It is also known as Huauhqultamalcualiztli, but I couldn't find a direct translation for this word. It was the Spanish translation of the Nahuatl writing. This feast was held on the Izcalli which was on the eighth day of the month of January. On this day, everyone ate tamales stuffed with Amaranth Greens. Amaranth greens in Nahuatl are called huauhquilitl, a wild, leafy green vegetable that must be boiled. These tamales would then be offered to everyone around them, friends and family. They would also place them on one grave of those who had passed away. They would give one tamale to each family member who had passed. After handing out their tamales, they would come together with their families and sit in a circle. They first offered five tamales to the fire, which you can see in the image. Those that were burning in a wooden vessel in the fire were the ones that were given to the dead. After this offering, they then would eat the tamale, and they ate the smoking ones from the fire, and many of the Mexica would burn their mouths. Since the tamales were wrapped in corn husks, they would discard the husks around and eat the tamale inside. The husks allowed the tamales to be on fire without getting burned or scorched because the husk would protect the filling. While it did say that everyone had one tamale, it also stated that they would eat all of the tamales so they wouldn't leave any tamales for the next day. Older men and women would also drink pulque, which the Nahtual translation states is "cool off in the oven." I understand it was meant to cool down their mouths after burning it from the tamales that came straight off the fire. After the feast, they would set up an image of the fire Gods and worship them.
Everyday Life
Lastly, I will talk about how tamales are used in everyday life. First, I will talk about the sellers of tamales. Many different tamales were sold at the market. They sold meat tamales, plain tamales, barbecued tamales, tamales with chili, tamales with fish, tamales with frogs, rabbit tamales, gopher tamales, fruit tamales, bean tamales, honey tamales, and tamales with grains of maize. There were several different ways that tamales were prepared, such as tamales that were softened in wood ashes, tamales softened in lime, and bowled tamales. The tamales were decorated and colored to show the different types that one was able to get. The red ones had fruit stuffed, and the white tamales had white fruit in them as well as green tamales to show the amaranth green tamales. The bean tamales were decorated with beans on top to represent a shell. They also talk about the bad tamale seller who sells filthy tamales that are discolored, broken, tasteless, and inedible. These sellers wouldn't sell fresh tamales but old or spoiled ones. They then go on to talk about how tamales were served at a merchant's banquet. The tamales were served in a basket and served with a side of sauce in a clay pot of importance, and they were to be held from the bottom and never from the rim of the bowl. After the tamales were served, chocolate was then served. Chocolate was a food of importance and only allowed during special ceremonies, or it was served to people of high ranking. Chocolate was a sacred food because it represented the blood of their Gods.
Work Cited
Sánchez, Graciela, and Ian Mursell. “Welcome to Mexicolore.” Welcome to Mexicolore, 1980, www.mexicolore.co.uk/.
“Welcome to the Online Nahuatl Dictionary!” Welcome to the Online Nahuatl Dictionary! | Nahuatl Dictionary, nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/.
“Digital Florentine Codex.” Digital Florentine Codex, florentinecodex.getty.edu/. Accessed 6 May 2024.
