Ancient Mexicans Ate Spicy Food

Mexican cuisine as we know it today goes back at least 1,500 years, according to a new study that looked at 500-1,500 A.D. food preparation ingredients discovered in two Oaxacan caves.
Based on the evidence, the cave's residents had 122 dried and fresh chiles, along with corn, squash, beans, avocados, agaves, prickly pears, tropical zapote fruit, berries, wild onions and more at their culinary disposal.

Like a well-organized pantry, the chiles had pride of place just to the right of the entrance for one of the caves.

"Chiles may be an acquired taste for Europeans and Americans, but not for the Indians of Mexico," co-author Kent Flannery, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan, told Discovery News.

He added, "Especially in the early periods, when bland foods like prickly pear cactus, acorns, mesquite pods, etc. were relied upon, plants like chiles and wild onions put some zip into their diet."

Flannery and Smithsonian researcher Linda Perry analyzed the chile finds, which were unearthed at two dry rock shelter caves — Guilá Naquitz and Silvia's Cave, northwest of Mitla, Oaxaca. During prehistoric periods, the caves housed family groups, but they later became convenient places for hunters and planters to temporarily camp out.

The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers can distinguish wild from domesticated chiles based on seed size, fruit size and starch content. Based on these characteristics, the scientists determined the chiles were all domesticated cultivars, mostly from the species that today gives us jalapeño, Serrano and ancho peppers.

"A couple of the cultivars look quite a bit like Tabasco and cayenne peppers," Perry told Discovery News.

Old chiles excavated in other Mexican caves suggest peppers first were domesticated around 8,000 years ago, after gourds and squash were domesticated at 8,000 B.C. Wild beans were being collected at 6,000 B.C., then corn at 4,000 B.C. The first tortilla press dates to 500-300 B.C., well before the Oaxacan cave finds.

Chemical analysis of starch granules on the cave chiles yielded residues of common beans, runner beans, corn and a few unidentified starches. While it is not possible to precisely recreate what the ancients were cooking up, Perry said the food probably was "very much like today" with "fresh peppers in salsas" and dried peppers tossed into stews or ground into moles.
Based on the discoveries, the scientists believe the region had a thriving economy centered on multiple crops grown in different environments, with perhaps warm valley tropical fruits obtained at markets or through trade. Other evidence suggests they utilized their bounty in a ritual that involved burning incense and drinking pulque, an alcoholic drink made of fermented agave sap, in bat claw effigy vessels.

Danise Coon, program director of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, told Discovery News that the Oaxacan cave finds "provide great evidence for early cultivation of Mexican vegetables and fruits, especially chiles."

Coon believes chiles first became popular for medicinal purposes. High in vitamins A and C, chiles also contain the heat-producing alkaloid capsaicin.

"Even today, capsaicin is added to arthritis creams," she said. "It produces a heat/pain response in the brain that can be even bigger than the individual's arthritis or muscle soreness."

She said it is appropriate the evidence for early Mexican foods came from Oaxaca, because the state is still known for its "delicious, traditional and complex cuisine."

Special Thanks to The Discovery Channel