Early Illustration of a Mexican Cayenne Type

The Soul of the Mexicans, Part 2

Dave DeWitt Mexico and Central America Leave a Comment

By Dave DeWitt Aztec Chiles In 1529, Bernardino de Sahagún, a Spanish Franciscan friar living in Nueva España (Mexico) noted that the Aztecs ate hot red or yellow chile peppers in their hot chocolate and in nearly every dish they prepared! Fascinated by the Aztec’s constant use of a previously unknown spice, Sahagún documented this fiery cuisine in his classic …

Chiles and Chocolate

Chiles and Chocolate

Fiery Foods Manager Chile History, Sweet Heat Leave a Comment

by Dave DeWitt The culinary mating of hot chiles and chocolate was unforgettably revealed to me in the mercado in Oaxaca, where the molinos–grinding mills–in adjacent stalls were processing cacao beans in one stall and mole paste with chiles in the other. In this ancient city, I had this sudden epiphany that, in prehistoric times, ancient cooks would have naturally …