What would Christmas be for most of us without the colorful touch of poinsettias, a feast centered around a juicy bird roasted to golden perfection and delighted indulgence in mouth-watering chocolate treats? All three of these holiday favorites, valued as treasures of Mexico’s natural bounty since pre-Hispanic times, are gifts that the country has since bestowed on the world.
Cuitlaxochitl
Nothing from the garden says Merry Christmas more brilliantly that the scarlet-hued beauty known most commonly in Mexico as the Flor de Noche Buena (Christmas Eve Flower). it also goes by the Spanish monikers Flor de Pastor (Shepherd’s Flower) and Santa Catarina (Saint Catherine), as well as the ancient Nahuatl term Cuitlaxochitl (Star Flower) and its scientific name Euphorbia Pulcherrima.
English-speakers know this illustrious holiday plant as the poinsettia, named after Joel R. Poinsett, an accomplished botanist who first encountered the colorful shrubs in the 1820’s while posted as the first U.S. ambassador to the newly independent Mexico.
Poinsettias are native to tropical zones in Mexico and Central America. In Aztec times it was cultivated in the famed botanical gardens of the Emperor Moctezuma, and prized for its medicinal properties in the treatment of circulatory and skin ailments.
The bright petals of the are actually bracts or leaves that surround the inconspicuous cluster of yellow florets that constitute the blossom.
Poinsett experimented with different methods of propagation during his stint in Mexico, eventually returning to his native South Carolina with enough cuttings to launch a holiday botanical trend that has since spread worldwide.
Huexolotl
Due its size, the turkey obviously lends itself to the feeding of large groups of diners. Its historical background as a ceremonial food provides further insight into why it is now such a popular centerpiece of the Christmas feast.
The domestic turkey is known in Mexico as the guajolote, derived from the Nahuatl term huexolotl (great monster). Once slaughtered, cooked and served on the table, the meaty bird is called pavo.
The turkey was an important element in a variety of ritualistic practices among the Aztecs. Their house-warming ceremonies involved sacrificing a turkey at the door of the new abode, and then sprinkling its blood around the four corners, doorway, roof and other parts of the structure. Afterwards the bird was cooked and served up for a communal a feast, forming part of an offering to the god of fire.
Turkey meat was also prepared as the main dish for the fall Tepeuhuitl (feast of the hills), celebrated in honor of the dead. Pavo en mole is still a platter that features prominently in the Day of the Dead offerings laid out by thousands of Mexican families on November 2 in honor of their dearly departed.
Xocóatl
Soon after touching Mexico’s shores in 1519, Hernán Cortés and the Spanish conquistadores were received by Moctezuma at his breakfast table. They found the Aztec ruler sipping an exotic drink called xocóatl – meaning bitter water. Made from ground cacao beans boiled in water, flavored with vanilla and other tropical spices, and chilled with bits of snow from nearby mountain tops, the pungent beverage was, the Spanish reported, “of a very exciting nature.”
Xocóatl was esteemed as an invigorating refreshment whose consumption was permitted only to those in the highest echelons of Aztec society. It was quaffed as a ceremonial drink and also downed as both an aphrodisiac and an antidote for poison.
Cacao was a highly valued commodity in pre-Hispanic Mexico. The great lords of the Maya culture cultivated the plants in large plantations, exchanging their crops for feathers, jade and other precious goods in Mesoamerica’s principal commercial centers. A dozen of the beans was sufficient currency to purchase a slave or procure an evening’s pleasure in the company of a prostitute.
Cacao was among the New World treasures Cortés sent back to his sovereign, Carlos V. The Spanish took a great liking to xocóatl, especially once they figured out that a dose of sugar made it far more palatable. They dubbed the drink “chocolate” and jealously guarded the secret of its preparation from other Europeans for nearly a century. Once other nations caught on, the beverage became all the rage among the well-heeled who were soon flocking to fashionable chocolate houses in London, Amsterdam and other continental capitals.
In the 1650’s an enterprising Frenchman devised a method for milling cacao into solid cakes. By the mid-19th century, the Swiss had invented a blending process that permitted the creation of chocolate candy. The rest, as they say, is history. Today people of all stations all around the globe consume massive amounts of chocolate in myriad forms. The United States business sector spends nearly a billion dollars annually on cacao imports.
As you enjoy these specialties during this Christmas season, you might want to pause and say “Gracias, Mexico” for helping making your holiday celebrations so much richer.