| The people of highland Mexico and the
Valley of Mexico, particularly the Aztecs, have gone through a number
of changes in their diet, from early hunting and gathering with limited
agriculture, to a diet built off of advanced agricultural activity and
finally changes in their crops and domesticated animals in the clash
with the Spaniards and the Conquest. But since the Aztecs became a
settled people, they have had a variety of available dishes (although
not as wide a variety as in the United States), which allowed for
impressive showings by the elite (and perhaps even impressive variety
for the commoners in some cases). Food was obviously an important
aspect of Aztec life and was prepared not just for subsistence, but
also for enjoyment. It is interesting to note that even today, when a person can go to a grocery store and literally have hundreds of options for food, people still quite often get drawn into a repetitive diet with limited variety, likely due to money constraints and just comfort with the norms. Upon seeing limited accounts of the foods available versus the food considered a more normal everyday meal in Aztec times, it brings about the question if Aztecs too had access to variety, but in much the same way as you or I, got drawn into the comfortable and familiar or limited by income, with a large variety of meals being more the exception than the rule. |
 (Berdan, Francis F., 2005) |