Teodoro Catalan Nava, who lives in Mexico, explores the mysterious combination of words and food.
I am Teodoro Catalan Nava from a small town in the upper mountains of Guerrero, Mexico and also a teacher ‘wannabe’. Currently, in the last module of a TEFL program at the University of Dayton. An online program that starts and ends face to face in Mexico City every year. As part of this program, I teach in a primary school to 6th graders, every Wednesday. And as such, I will write about a Mexican dish that is the most iconic in the Superbowl feast that is celebrated today on American soil. The Guacamole is a prehispanic dish but also an appetizer that is made of: of course aguacates (avocados) a word that is rooted in the Nàhuatl Language, the language of the Mexicas who ruled and constructed the great city of Tenochtitlan which is now known as Mexico City. Other ingredients are onions, cilantro, tomato, chilli and salt to your liking. Tomato or (jitomate) is also a Nàhual word. Tomate and (Ji) which means red. In consequence, the word jitomate means (red tomato) in Spanish.
A Molcajete:
Here in Mexico Guacamole is traditionally prepared in a Molcajete a type of bowl made of volcanic stone and is also a Nàhualt word, (molli) means salsa (caxitl) cajete a concave form, the complete word in Nàhuatl is (mollicaxtli). How a simple dish or appetizer became the iconic food of the Superbowl? Simple, as every food crosses boundaries with the immigrants. The same story of most dishes in North America, Pizza, Hamburgers and even Apple Pie. When the migrants started crossing the borders; food, traditions and customs arrived with them. Mole, Guacamole, Pozole, Tacos are some of the many examples of Mexican food that now are part of the Mexican cuisine in the US. In every Mexican restaurant in the US, Guacamole is a must as an appetizer to every visitor with another ingredient, Nachos. Nachos are cut pieces of toasted tortilla that are to be eaten but also serve as spoons. Basically, this is the short story of the iconic Guacamole and the Superbowl food that is culturally interrelated with sport. Not any sport but the most iconic sport of the United States of America. So iconic that the Cambridge Dictionary published a Superbowl word list that includes the words Guacamole and Nachos.
Here I include the wordlist for further inquiries. Click on this link to read it.