Tzoalli: The amaranth serpent
It explores the process of making this ritual food that goes back to the pre-Hispanic era.
By Secretaría de Cultura
Hugo Esteban Rojas
Tzoalli by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
Amaranth: A sacred food
Amaranth or Joy, as we know it today in Mexico, has been cultivated and used since the pre-Hispanic era by different cultures in the center of the country. It is estimated that it has been used for about 5,000 to 7,000 years. Among the Nahuatl, it was known as huatli.
With the roasted amaranth seeds they prepared a flour that, kneaded with ground corn and agave honey, is calledtzoalli, which served as food on journeys or long trips.
Tzoalli 8 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
While the Tlaxcalans already consumed sweets made from huautli seeds mixed with ground corn and agave honey, it was not until colonial times that it became known as bee honey and sugar cane, whose honey or molasses gave rise to piloncillo (brown sugar).
Tzoalli 9 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
Derived from this mixing today we can consider the traditional Joy atzoalli. In Tlaxcala they are made in the shape of circles, sticks and skulls, especially during the Day of the Dead festival.
Tzoalli 2 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
More than a food
Tzoalliis also considered to be a ritual food used in numerous pre-Hispanic cultures; in the Yumuh de Ixtenco culture it is used to represent a snake used for ritual purposes.
The snake is usually made during the pilgrimages of the people of Ixtenco to theMatlalcueyetl(Malinche Volcano) that take place each year.
In the words of Hugo Esteban Rojas, producer and promoter of red amaranth, in order to create the snake, "we harvest in a traditional way, we pick standing up, we incorporate stubble on the soil, we select cob manually, we manually thresh the corn to obtain grains of corn and amaranth of the best quality."
Tzoalli 3 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
Creating the snake
"We grind the grains and obtain concentrate of mead from the agaves we have at the sides. These help us preserve our soils."
Tzoalli 4 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
"We combine the ingredients manually to permeate thoughts and feelings charged with positive energy …"
Tzoalli 5 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
"… until a uniform mass is achieved."
Tzoalli 6 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
"We make the body of the snake and we select Teozintle cob for the tail, grains of corn, garlic or tunicate for the neck and conical grains of corn for the eyes."
Tzoalli 7 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
"We arrange all the elements."
Tzoalli 11 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
"We mold the snake's body into the desired position."
Tzoalli 12 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
"We decorate with a little grain of amaranth, in this case on the lomo (loin) to highlight the presence of amaranth, that is, to make it visible."
Tzoalli 10 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
And to finish it off, "we use a cob of Tozintle to imitate a bell. On the neck, garlic or tunicate, resembling feathers, and we make the eyes with conical corn."
Tzoalli 13 by Bruno Esteban ZempoaltecaSecretaría de Cultura
This piece known as edible craftsmanship shows a timeline of the known evolution of native corn.
Finally, this offering is taken to the heart of the Matlalcueyetl to ask for abundant waters, without forgetting to cut its head, with the belief of avoiding future downpours that could harm the field.
Written by:
Hugo Esteban Rojas
Producer, transformer and promoter of amaranth, Creole corn and bean consumption
Huautitlax S. de P. R. de R. L.
Pueblo Ignacio Zaragoza, Huamantla, Tlaxcala
Cell. 246 46 9 08 60, Facebook: Huautitlax spr de rl hesteban@hotmail.com
Photograph: Bruno Esteban Zempoalteca
Cell: 22 28 66 56 35
Facebook: Bruno Esteban Zempoalteca
