CULTURAL NEWSPAPER
YEAR 0 | nUMBER 1 | DECEMBER 2021 | oaxaca, México
MEZCAL MURAL FESTIVAL November 2nd is engraved in the memory of the people of San Baltazar Chichicapam, it marked the beginning of a new community among 10 master palenqueros creating an unrepeatable batch of mezcal and 10 artists developing their artistic expression on walls and fermentation vats - Fernando Arce
Maguey oven covered in San Baltazar Guelavila. Fotografía: Fernando Arce
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NOMADIC CUISINE Moctezuma sent Cortés and his army, amongst other gifts, corresponding accessories for a range of gods and a dish of viscera and human hearts, as well as tortillas, corn cobs, tunas, mamey, avocados, plums and other fruits, bathed in human blood instead of salsa, to ascertain whether he was dealing with gods or mere men. - Fernando Gálvez
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WANDERLUST Our destination is the stunning coast of Oaxaca, specifically Puerto Escondido which is synonymous for beauty, incredible landscapes, surfing and gastronomic offerings; and where the arrival of new residents has created a cosmopolitan destination... - Andrea Gandarce
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GOOD THOOT
POWERFUL PLANTS In Oaxaca, tradition is still alive. I have rediscovered in this land remedies long forgotten in Europe. Part of this knowledge comes from syncretism and certain plants commonly used today were introduced here with the conquest. - Camille Pelloux
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Quetzalcóatl Zurita, the son of a doctor from Santos Reyes Nopala in Oaxaca, learned that respect from the community is earned by caring with heart, discipline and constancy. For his services he received love and acknowledgement, and, like many such payments, this was converted into food for the table. - Fernando Arce
MISCELLANEOUS Ana Hernández explores that ancestral past and the contemporary world through the integration of opposites without neutralizing them, creating a poetics of resistance and unity. - Atenas Beltrán
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Letter from the Editor The Black Agave is a publication that is made up of chroniclers, graphic artists, journalists, curators of art, anthropologists and lovers of food and mezcal. Our objective is to share our vision of a Oaxacan reality; one that brings dignity to our community.
The Black Agave is a bi-monthly cultural art and culture newspaper. Reservation number before the National Institute of Copyright in process. The content of the articles does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor. The articles contained in this publication may only be reproduced with prior authorization. www.theblackagave.com.mx | theblackagave@gmail.com
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Letter from the Editor In our case, a passion for images, graphics and words took us on a journey to fulfil a dream, and so, 12 years after having authored the first issue in an independent publication, we return with a more purposeful and concrete vision as a result of our enthusiasm for ink and paper. The Black Agave is a publication that is made up of chroniclers, graphic artists, journalists, curators of art, anthropologists and lovers of food and mezcal. Our objective is to share our vision of a Oaxacan reality; one that brings dignity to our community. It is important to remain conscious of the transition from cultural appreciation to cultural appropriation. Thus, in this edition we will be talking about how throughout the years culture continues to be appropriated without due recognition and respect to our ancestors who possessed this wisdom. In our Oaxaca, a state that emanates cultural diversity, we celebrate how fortunate we are to live here. We start with the Mezcal Mural Festival, created for diverse, mezcal-producing communities in Oaxaca to promote the culture of mezcal through art. This is followed by the column, ‘Food and Conquest 500 Years On’ by Fernando Gálvez focusing on alcohol and gastronomy. We will travel with Andrea Gandarce along the Oaxacan coast, entering the Manialtepec Lagoon, the so-named ‘place of the lizards.’ In ‘Powerful Plants’ our souls are returned to our bodies; Camille Pelloux talks to us about the shamans and ancestors who have inherited the gift of healing. ‘Symbolism and Resistance: the language of the artist born in Santo Domingo, Tehuantepec, Ana has created a language for communion, for resistance, for remembrance; this text by Atenas Beltrán, art historian and curator. Once again, we invite you to be part of our readership, and to travel with us through the chronicles in this edition of The Black Agave. Fernando Arce
Directory
Editorial director Fernando Arce @ferarcefotografo Style director Antonio Escobedo @Zentromx Editorial design Erandi Adame @erandiadame Translation Gaetano Donizetti and Erin Machin-Spicer Photography Fernando Arce Sánchez Chronicle of Mezcal Fernando Arce Wanderlust Andrea Gandarce Nomadic Cuisine Fernando Galvéz Good Thoot Fernando Arce Miscellaneous Artenas Beltrán Ploweful Plants Camille Pelloux Advertising and subscription: 9511560321 www.theblackagave.com.mx | theblackagave@gmail.com
Mezcal Mural Festival 2021 By Fernando Arce
November 2nd is engraved in the memory of the people of San Baltazar Chichicapam, it marked the beginning of a new community among 10 master palenqueros creating an unrepeatable batch of mezcal and 10 artists developing their artistic expression on walls and fermentation vats.
CHRONICLE OF MEZCAL
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A few months ago I had the good fortune to visit a mezcal community very close to Oaxaca City; San Baltazar Chichicapam, located in the central part of the State of Oaxaca, southeast of the capital and east of the district of Ocotlán. A unique mezcal was developed in the town, twenty hands made a mezcal for this event, from the cutting of wild agaves, through the baking and ending in the transmutation of this plant and turning it into mezcal with four varieties of wild agaves, the ten masters put together their wisdom and ancestral technique to create this unprecedented small batch. The result was a unique drink that makes me think that the magic of mezcal has no limits to achieve something never before done in the population, unprecedented because I bet on my dream and put all my eggs in the basket, isn’t that what life is all about?
to take art to their walls and directly to the palenques with an expression of 10 different artistic visions and to create an experience and symbiosis between the 10 palenques was something daring at the beginning but in the end it was well achieved. The result, to obtain a conjugation with more creative minds and thus create Mezcal Mural Festival, of course, from a specific point of “cultural appreciation” ...I once dreamed of hands inking mezcal walls and colors...
A BRIEF ANECDOTE Don Alfonso Sanchez commented to me on one occasion; “Fer, your profit, is already here, and that is invaluable, you achieved something that no one had done in our community, unite us”, just at that moment I realized that I had been accepted in a population which did not see me born in their lands, I realized that my message had finally been received for the community of teachers, that there was no other interest on my part but to transmit the culture of mezcal through art, now it was up to me not to disappoint them and not to disappoint me.
Why did I start this cultural development called Mezcal Mural Festival? Personally I decided to create and believe that with the union between art and mezcal we could improve hand in hand with art and prosper, the great news is that it worked. I developed this cultural project in 2020, in this second edition 2021 was for the community of San Baltazar Chichicapam. Given the economic situation due to the global pandemic that brought losses for many and few opportunities to grow and develop in community for others. We worked on field research based on the chronology of historical facts of the population of San Baltazar, the recognition of the orographic origin of the population, its mother tongue, natural resources and even the currency used in the past. It took more than 5 months of constant visits to the population, many drinks of mezcal and a lot of learning and testing, I did not give up, I learned, thanked and responded in the best way, with security, strength and facts, developing more and more in depth specific proposals for the identity of the community and cultural appreciation of these 10 masters palanqueros. To empathize and get the community to accept the created project is not an easy task,
In the end I returned home, satisfied, with great friends, with union among masters and with a lot of mezcal in my bloodstream and with an upcoming “Mezcal Mural Festival: Third Edition” in a different town. I will begin a new chronicle of mezcal, but even more a chronicle of life. “Desgracia grande suele ser, no tener para vino y agua tener que beber.”
7. Find Mezcal Mural Festival on social media such as: @mezcalmuralfestival or write to mezcalmuralfestival@gmail.com to learn more about the project and participate in the next editions.
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Quetzalcóatl Zurita: A Chef with Tradition By Fernando Arce
The best way to give thanks is through food, in this way we bestow part of our essence.
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GOOD THOOT
uetzalcóatl Zurita, the son of a doctor from Santos Reyes Nopala in Oaxaca, learned that respect from the community is earned by caring with heart, discipline and constancy. For his services he received love and acknowledgement, and, like many such payments, this was converted into food for the table. He was the youngest of four siblings, and always stuck close to his caregiver, Doña Aurea, who ‘took him everywhere’ he remembers fondly. Doña Aurea Santiago came from Miahuatlán de Porfirio Díaz, and, upon arriving in the community worked on a coffee plantation, and in this way, by chance, destiny brought her to the family. From there, she became unto a second mother. With the unique flavor and the distinct varieties of spices that she used when cooking, she awakened Quetzalcóatl’s palate and curiosity for food, and it was with her that he started to instinctively learn and never left the kitchen. Doña Aurea also brought with her a valued ingredient, previously unknown, that she used constantly called almoraduz (majoram or thyme), a plant endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and common to all of Andalusia. He tasted this for the first time in her stews, this deliciously flavored plant that she used constantly, laughingly and sarcastically insisting that the addition of almoraduz to every dish must not be forgotten. This caused much loving mirth in the family and she was a huge influence in cooking for Quetzalcóatl. In 2013, thanks to the huge support of Chef Shalxaly, his wife, Quetzalcóatl’s first dishes were served, presenting what he had learned from his father and his ‘nana’; hospitality, service and flavor. Celebrating eight years since opening the restaurant that was created for his beloved wife Shalxaly in honor of Doña Aurea, her and his two daughters are the lights that guide him onwards.
We come from Nopala to make our stews in cooking fires, this is the tasty way we ‘inditos de calzones’ eat. Almoraduz is a unique concept on the Oaxacan coast with a vanguardist menu of dishes that change according to the season, and highlight organic, locally-produced, endemic ingredients. It stands out by being in constant evolution and for integrating the marvels of Oaxacan cooking with traditional and contemporary techniques. This year, Chef Quetzalcoatl Zurita was honored by the Mexican Gastronomic Guide, which recognizes the best restaurants in the county; he has also been mentioned for five consecutive years by the Marco Beteta Destinations Guide. In its article 52 Places to Go the New York Times recommends Almoraduz for its commitment to fresh and creative dishes which are full of memorable flavors. For the chef at Almoraduz, the corn, fried and stuffed with green chorizo, bean and banana purée and salsa made with mortar and pestle is the most representative dish, which is also perfectly matched with a mezcal made from pichometl maguey.
www.almoraduz.com.mx Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
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MISCELLANEOUS
SYMBOLISM AND RESISTANCE: THE LANGUAGE OF ANA HERNÁNDEZ By Atenas Beltrán
A work is a machine of meaning. That machine would be the reconciliation of the universe of symbols and the sensitive universe that would show us that we are the transmission channel through which languages flow and our body translates them into other languages. - Octavio Paz From a contemporary and everyday approach, the work of Mexican artist Ana Hernández is based on a collective imaginary and the vivacity of traditions in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, her region of origin. Her work is characterized by the resignification of what in her own context is considered commonplace: everyday materials and utilitarian objects are filled with symbolism forming installations, textile sculptures or drawings. Ana explores that ancestral past and the contemporary world through the integration of opposites without neutralizing them, creating a poetics of resistance and unity. Resistance of those values of identity that through community union are strengthened so as not to be diluted in the storms of contemporaneity. For this reason, the creative work of the artist is so relevant, as she shows interest in certain dilemmas and contradictions of society, translating them into an artistic language through original concepts and genuine forms. In her most recent exhibition BIXHIA (fish), Ana is inspired by the story of a Zapotec ritual dance: Sa
Benda Bixhia (Dance of the fish) that comes to life in the watering of the Candles of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The legend ends with the resistance and cohesion of the fishermen to catch an eagle fish that is too cunning and strong, and cannot be caught by a single fisherman. I start from my essence because we must start from what we know to express ourselves, we have to speak from where we know, from where we have memories and experiences, everything is memory. The legend of the fish and Ana’s work reaffirm the importance of community, collective memory and what we recognize as our own. Here art has a social sense. Ana has created a language that expresses her essence and that of a community. It is a language to make communion, to resist, not to forget. The exhibition can be visited from October 30 at NN gallery, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca.
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WANDERLUST
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Wanderlust, the adventure is waiting By Andrea Gandarce Our destination is the stunning coast of Oaxaca, specifically Puerto Escondido which is synonymous for beauty, incredible landscapes, surfing and gastronomic offerings; and where the arrival of new residents has created a cosmopolitan destination. On this occasion, we were hosted by the beautiful colonial style Hotel Santa Fé y Bungalows Santa Cruz, with its sought-after location on Zicatela Beach. The outdoor pool is the perfect spot to enjoy a moment of relaxation with a refreshing mojito in easy reach. We gave ourselves the task of finding a special tour and decided on the perfect option; a kayaking excursion which took us around the Manialtepec Lagoon. We got up early with the help of a specialty coffee from Finca Las Nieves – a brew exclusive to the Hotel Santa Fé – and began our journey. The Lagoon can be found only 15 minutes outside of Puerto Escondido. It’s a place of exceptional beauty where mangroves stand out amongst the exuberant vegetation. The name Manialtepec is derived from the náhuatl word ‘manine’ (animal that crawls) and ‘tepetl’ (place), which can be interpreted as ‘the place of the lizards’ (which didn’t deter us from taking advantage of this experience). The company @Laloecotours has 25 years of experience in offering motorboat and kayaking adventures and we had the pleasure of meeting Don Lalo Escamilla and his family who manage the tours around the Lagoon. His daughter Nayeli proudly recounted Don Lalo’s early years, beginning with a single boat and a passion for birds which took him on a lifelong journey of research; and whose birdwatching tours have become famous. Carefully approaching the habitat and seeing the birds’ majestic flight, you understand that the importance of care and conservation is of overarching importance to Don Lalo and his family. His children told us how he had instilled in them a love for the Lagoon and its protection. This is how we started our fascinating kayak trip through the mangroves, guided by Arena and Maricarmen, who can do the tour in either Spanish or English. In the face of such beauty and peace, the Lagoon left us speechless. After sunset, the Escamilla family invited us to spend the night observing the bioluminescence. This can be enjoyed all year round - the moon is the only thing that affects visibility. On the contrary, rain, upon contact with the water, amplifies the phenomenon even more. Without doubt, this is an unequalled experience, and grateful for this marvelous adventure, we went home with a burning desire to return as soon as possible. After a day of incredible experiences, going back to the Hotel Santa Fé was like coming home. Without a doubt, we’ll be back soon for a new wanderlust experience.
@hotelsantafepto www.hotelsantafe.com.mx
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@laloecotours www.lalo-ecotours.com
Awareness is needed to move from cultural appropriation to cultural appreciation By Camille Pelloux
A practitioner of traditional European medicine and a healer originally from the French Alps, she is fascinated by traditional medicines and the custodians of ancestral knowledge. She arrived in Oaxaca several years ago and decided to stay.
POWERFUL PLANTS
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plant that does not originate in the patient’s endemic environment. In Oaxaca, tradition is still alive. I have rediscovered in this land remedies long forgotten in Europe. Part of this knowledge comes from syncretism and certain plants commonly used today were introduced here with the conquest. This is the case of rue also called here ruue, ruta chalepensis L. Its use in Europe has been forgotten. Here this plant is well known is commonly used for clean, to cure evil eye, fright, air sickness, air in the stomach, air in the eyes, air in the ears, air in the head, damage, witchcraft, envy, fright, air blow, children’s air, air colic and air pricks, but also for the protection of houses and is also used, in small doses, as antiparasitic remedy, antifungal and digestive (prohibited for pregnant women for these abortifacient qualities).
The guardians of knowledge are alive and well
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axaca abounds in rich culture, tradition and the connection that from its inner core people of Oaxaca have with earth. Something I have observed from these Zapotec guardians and healers with whom I had the opportunity to talk is that they all opened their doors to transmit, with justified distrust at first, but finally, with joy of transmitting knowledge to be recorded, to be shared and long lasting. I am grateful that no one has closed the door on me even though I am not of Zapotec origin, because we are united by this awareness of wealth, of this knowledge. Perhaps, in addition, as foreigners, we can perceive the richness of this culture with another perspective, which is not always only mercantile and with the awareness a number times deleterious consequences of modernity, progress and society. It is essential to understand the ancestral transmissions of the people who practice healing and the knowledge of herbs who are custodians of knowledge, taking into account these issues I wonder: Am I stealing knowledge that does not belong to my culture? Am I stealing the wealth of a people who have already suffered so much from appropriation? What is my motivation? What will I do with this knowledge and these secrets, from whom will they benefit?
In Europe its use was associated with magic and healers. Its power led to its prohibition in a very similar way to what has happened to traditional healing practices in this part of the world.
OBLIVION OF ANCESTRY Oaxaca is a millenary land with ancestral knowledge, in medicinal and herbal terms, of unstoppable richness. Unfortunately, some knowledge is disappearing, hence the urgency of transmission. Ten years ago, 30% of births were performed in the traditional way, this figure has risen to almost 3%, with a much higher figure (almost 60%) in indigenous communities. Allopathic medicine is taking over the commercialization of health, young people are not interested in learning traditional techniques, they dream of modernity and more comfort. The midwife Olga, from Mitla in the Central Valleys, told me that no one wanted to learn traditional childbirth: “young people are afraid of blood” Yes, the younger generations are afraid of blood, of their blood, of the power of these roots that have been violated, assaulted, devastated, devalued.
Everyone must ask their own questions to avoid the excesses of cultural exploitation. In Western Europe, especially in France, in the field of traditional medicine and power plants, we have lost and wasted a lot of knowledge and traditions. Religion, science, patriarchy, capitalism have erased much of the ancestral knowledge and have eliminated those who exercise it. Even if the exchange seems to be welcome, the fact is that it seems essential to respect the provenance of knowledge and avoid any descontextualization and simplification of knowledge. I never recommend the use of a
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Food and Conquest after 500 years By Fernando Gálvez de Aguinaga
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conquered territories, was also a global food businessman. It must be said that, for example, after conquering Cuba at the side of Diego Velázquez an having designated him as founding authority in Santiago, Cortés dedicated himself to breeding pigs to provide meat to the settlers of the recently conquered island. His monopoly of pork permitted him to amass a small fortune which he then invested in boats, weapons, food and personnel for his exploratory adventure which became the Conquest; certainly the boats reeked of the bacon, sausage and smoked ham that Cortés ordered prepared for the voyage. In this expedition Cortés had a large amount of luck, such as when he was settling up territory after the battle of Centla. At the mouth of the river of Grijalva, in today’s Tabasco, he not only received La Malinche as a gift, but also 19 other women. This female group was hugely important to the success of the Conquest, not only for the linguistic translations of La Malinche, but rather in terms of survival. The women showed the Spanish what to eat in the Mesoamerican territory. They enabled them to learn about the plants and animals, as well as the culinary techniques of the local gastronomy to familiarize themselves with maize and its proceedings to understand a new world through taste. As Cortés travelled by land through what now is Veracruz, there was an abundance of testimony relating to discovery of new foods, as much as they were getting to know cultures and
inding new routes for Asian goods was the reason for the explorations that Christopher Columbus sold to the Catholic kings of Spain. As well as minerals and textiles, one of the most important product groups were the spices that had transformed the alimentary habits of the powerful classes throughout Europe, due to the flavor that they had brought to stews as well as having been accompanied by recipes that European palates had never imagined. The idea of large banquets had taken hold of the nobility and the courts and cooks had to study the gastronomy of China or India. The cost of the ingredients that seasoned meats, vegetables and potatoes was high because of the demand for the merchandise. Western gastronomy was developing with new fruits and vegetables whose seeds had been successfully adapted to European soil. With all the diversity of peppers and plants, these truly magical powders produced daydreams and excited the diner to decadence or euphoria, placidity or joy. In this way, tasty food was one of the economic drivers that pushed international commerce. In the history of discoveries and geographical explorations, and of the conquest of Mexico and America, the search for flavor was central. We can say that the foods that Hernán Cortés and his soldiers encountered in what is today Mexico, deepened the European gastronomic revolution that Arabic and Asian dishes and ingredients had started.
NOMADIC CUISINE
Those two great antagonists of the History of the Conquest, Hernán Cortés and Moctezumma II, are in many ways full of the stories connecting food. The Spaniard, in addition to his ambition to be considered almost a king of the
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chieftain who invited them to a great banquet in Cempoala, his Totonac capital. From then on there began not only a succession of surprising feasts for the Spanish but chronicles where they took great pains to compare the fruits of the New World with two or three that were known in Europe so that the readers could understand; the similarities and descriptions are true poetic marketing for those who had discovered a universe of aromas, textures and tastes in each sauce, each dish and each ingredient. The alliance par excellence of the Spanish with the indigenous during the conquest was with Tlaxcala, the land of abundant tortillas. The Aztec heaven, was Cincalco, the house of the divine Maize, place of cultivation and the sacred cornfield. As they familiarized themselves with their enemies, the
landscapes, they were discovering stews and fruits, and alimentary customs. They say that as early as the first contacts, Moctezuma sent Cortés and his army, amongst other gifts, corresponding accessories for a range of gods and a dish of viscera and human hearts, as well as tortillas, corn cobs, tunas, mamey, avocados, plums and other fruits, bathed in human blood instead of salsa, to ascertain whether he was dealing with gods or mere men. When Cortés refused the bowels and fluids on offer, Moctezuma had proof that he was not facing a divine incursion, rather confronting people from a far away and unknown culture to the Mexicas, due to the fact that they had not devoured the proper offerings for divinities. Cortés sealed his first alliance against the empire of the Mexica with an obese
La siesta Damián Lescas Aguafuerte, 38x38 cm
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Spanish began to understand the role of maize in the diverse civilizations that they encountered and heard about. They found out that the sculptures of Huitzilopochtli, the patron god of the Aztecs is often represented using a sculptural technique that is today called ‘corn caning’. In their strategies to convert the indigenous to Christianity, the Spanish adopted this technique to create Christs and saints of maize so the indigenous would continue to pray. The entrepreneurial mind of Cortés started an early phase of globalization. He dreamt of conquering the Aztecs but at the same time he wanted to create new maritime routes to realize trade and to assign each territory with a crop to be brought from Europe or Asia. He dreamt of each indigenous nation as an hacienda dedicated to growing rice, sugar cane, fruit trees or orchards from other parts of the world to supply, as he did with the pigs, the Europeans of the new kingdom, where he felt himself the undisputed ruler. However, he also considered exporting beans, maize, tomatoes, chocolate, vanilla, avocado and the nopal cactus, those flavors that exploded on the tongue that he wanted to make fashionable to the avid fans of innovative delicacies in the courts of Europe. Upon his first visit as conqueror, years later, Cortés brought back several ships filled with animals, minerals, gold, silver, seeds, and the most resistant plants in pots. Inside those same ships he also carried representatives of the indigenous nobility and women who could cook what he carried with him in trunks and cages. They say that the expression ‘viajó hasta con el perico’ (‘he even brought the parrot’) originated with this voyage. The sailing ships essentially contained a sample of everything that existed in the new lands in order to encourage Carlos V of the invaluable nature of Cortés’ potential conquest in mineral riches and agriculture for the Crown. Curiously, the alcoholic drinks of Mesoamerica were not to Spanish tastes, better said, they would bring their wines and spirits, the distillation techniques
that would give birth to drinks that over centuries would become part of the identity of Mexico; all came from varieties of maguey: tequila, mezcal and pulque. However, today it would be unthinkable to imagine Spanish cooking without the tomato or European baking would be nothing without chocolate or vanilla. Maize has become a staple part of the diet of millions, and has ended up as being the most important plant in the world based on areas of cultivation. The dining revolution is complete. Cortés, upon being received by Moctezuma as a guest is overwhelmed by the Emperor of Mexica’s table. There are hundreds of dishes that are served daily in the palace and preserved or fresh products arrive from far flung regions. Fresh fauna cultivated in the surrounds of the palace and its extensions, and from the zoos and aviaries and aquariums is also brought in. The highly developed botanical science and complex agriculture enabled the indigenous of each region of the empire to provide a set quantity of agricultural products that are unthinkable on Spanish soil. The sumptuous clothing, jewelry and headdresses amaze the invaders, and the hygiene too is astounding. The markets are so dominant and vital that even after the Conquest, indigenous women continue to control them, although the Spanish set up their markets, called parianes, where not only meat, wheat bread and European products are sold but also Asian products. The stories of the stalls and merchandise of the markets are among some of the richest testimonies contained in the diverse chronicles of the conquistadors and Bernal Díaz del Castillo alone dedicates dozens of pages to the markets of Tlatelolco and its infinities of seeds, insects, fruit and vegetables. Cortés will continue to advance his commercial projects as he establishes his power after winning the political war against his indigenous allies after their triumphs together in battle. He controls the slaughterhouses and commercialization of meat in
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Tenochtitlán (Mexico City), and starts to plant wheat, rice and what he can obtain or bring from Cuba. He wants to increase his livestock and analyzes in which territories this would be most beneficial. Now in Coyoacán, amidst destroying the indigenous temples and cities of Tenochtitlán and Tlatelolco, he is already planting wheat and cane – without much success, but he is well informed about the orchards of Moctezuma in Cocoyoc and Oaxtepec, Morelos. He starts to analyze this region of Mexico to install haciendas of agricultural production. Once the King of Spain refuses to name him Viceroy of New Spain, Cortés, through his riches and becoming a lender to the Crown, is named the Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca, a title which gave him an immense territory in what now is Mexico, beginning with the heart of the capital’s zócalo with the administrative headquarters of the Marquisate, traversing Coyoacán, reaching on one side nto Toluca, encompassing Morelos and parts of Puebla and Oaxaca, along with many more extensions where he immediately ordered haciendas installed to start the production of imports of seeds and livestock from Europe to incorporate into his immense holdings. This secured him a place as one of the richest men in the world – although he hid his wealth to avoid taxation. The resulting political and economic outcomes may be disastrous for towns and nations, but the culture was enriched. Today, eating many of Mexico’s emblematic dishes can be compared to reading a compendium of universal gastronomy. Due to this intersection of indigenous alimentary traditions, with the cultures that arrived by boat; European, Asian, Arabic, Jewish and even African, I can do no more than cry out euphorically with that classic closing line from the manifesto of the vanguard of Stridentism: “Long live turkey mole!”
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