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From the
Fire Hearth Your expert guide to all things edible in Belize.
Move Over Spinach and Kale; Chaya's the Real Superfood Clearly, Popeye has been eating the wrong greens!
By LYRA SPANG, PhD Owner, anthropologist and tour guide Taste Belize Tours tastebelize@gmail.com
A
lso known as “tree spinach,” chaya (Cnidoscolus acontifolius) is a little known superfood. Native to the Yucatan Peninsula, which stretches from present day southern Mexico into Belize, this leafy shrub grows easily from cuttings and can tolerate very poor soils. Big green leaves shaped vaguely like those of a marijuana plant provide bushels of nutrient packed greens. You can find chaya in both wild and cultivated form from Merida, Mexico to Punta Gorda, Belize and all points in between.
of calcium, 42-52% of iron, 27% of Vitamin A and a whopping 275342% of daily Vitamin C needs. Chaya has twice the iron content of spinach. Clearly Popeye has been eating the wrong greens! Remember, the ancient Maya peoples did not have a dairy industry as cattle are from the old world. No doubt chaya was one of the plants that ensured that they got enough iron and calcium in their diet. Today we can benefit from this amazing shrub that produces massive amounts of healthy greens year round. It’s as simple as sticking a cutting in the ground and letting nature do the work. Chaya contains hydrocyanic acid which means that it is not recommended to eat the leaves raw. Some people say it is safe to eat up to 5 leaves raw per day, but even this small amount may cause a cumulative build-up of cyanide in your system, and some individuals are more sensitive to hydrocyanic acid, so I don’t recommend it. To make sure that your chaya is delicious, nutritious and safe, cook it for 15 minutes before eating, as heat destroys the hydrocyanic acid rendering it perfectly healthy for human consumption. (Do not cook in aluminum pans as this can cause a toxic reaction).
In Belize chaya is common growing wild along the roadside in the Cayo district, and as a dooryard plant in all districts. At the famous Pop’s Diner in Cayo, it is featured prominently with a framed chaya leaf on the wall and fry jacks stuffed with chaya eggs on the menu. It can even be found here on Placencia Peninsula, growing along the sidewalk by the In Belize's Toledo district, a chaya conch shell jeweler and next to the revolution is quietly brewing in burrito stand across from Wallen’s the little Kekchi Maya village of Hardware. San Felipe. Ixcacao Maya Belizean Chocolate is now offering dried chaBut what is it that makes chaya a ya leaf powder, which can be found superfood? in Placencia at Belizean Flavours shop, and is working to introduce Growing abundantly in even the this amazing green to the North poorest soils, chaya produces large American market, so don’t be surquantities of dark leafy greens whose prised when chaya, Belize’s Maya nutrient content puts kale and spinsuperfood, kicks kale to the curb. ▪ ach to shame. Chaya is exceptionally high in protein, calcium, iron and Vitamin A, containing more calcium than any other known vegetable. Lyra Spang is owner/guide of Taste According to USAID nutritional Belize Tours, a unique cultural & cuanalysis, 100 grams of cooked chaya linary tour company. She researches leaves provides 12-15% of a person’s & writes about food whenever she daily protein requirements, 20-33% can. tastebelize@gmail.com.
A Home Victory, First-Runner-Up Win and Pro Competition in Cuba, Call for a Drink from Placencia's Star Bartender Nancy Aguilar By JOLIE POLLARD Editor in Chief The Placencia Breeze pollard.jolie@gmail.com
The Placencia Peninsula just keeps on churning out rock stars in Belize! Now you can find one of the country’s best bonafide bartenders right here at the Tipsy Tuna Seaside and Sports Bar! In our September/October double issue, we told you that Tipsy’s Nancy Aguilar was representing Belize in the 22nd Pan American Cocktail Competition in Havana, Cuba alongside Stacy Avila of the Lazy Lizard in Caye Caulker, and there was plenty for the Belizean women to boast about upon their return home in September. Competing among 25 participants representing 12 countries (and one territory) including the Dominican Republic (DR), Ecuador, Uruguay, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, the United States of America, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Nicaragua, Spain and Panama, Nancy’s concoctions won her 12th place tying with the DR, while Stacy captured the 16th place spot tying with Ecuador. Belize was the second Central
Tipsy Tuna bartender, Nancy Aguilar, placed 12th of 25 participants representing 12 countries in the 22nd Pan American Cocktail Competition held in Havana, Cuba in September.
American country to send two bartenders to the competition and the first country to send an all-women team to compete in a male-dominated field, something Nancy said made her especially proud. The young women were also able to participate along with representatives of other western hemisphere bartending associations in making the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Cuba Libre in the world. “We put Belize See Placencia's Star Bartender on page 21
Cooked chaya greens join a hearty breakfast plate at Pop's Diner in San Ignacio, Cayo, where it's given much prominence on their menus and decor. While chaya can be easily grown in Placencia, restaurants and many home cooks have yet to take advantage of the superfood. (Photo by: DIANNE FINNEGAN)
