Nahua Recipes Rediscovered: Native Mexican Culinary Celebration

Ilhuitonalco Xochitlayocan

Chef Irwin Sánchez will be giving a culinary demonstration and discussing the close connection between age-old Mexican culinary traditions and the Nahuatl language. The workshop will focus on the importance of Indigenous food and languages as a means of resistance and cultural reclamation.

Soup Milpa is a dish of peasant origin that is customary in Puebla, Tlaxcala, Federal District, Hidalgo, and, in general, in the center of the country. It uses products harvested in the milpa: corn kernels, epazote, pumpkin flowers and guides, zucchini, poblano peppers, onion, and garlic cooked in water or chicken broth. In addition to these basic ingredients, cuitlacoche, green beans, or nopales can be added. It is a very old soup, perhaps of pre-Hispanic origin. Currently it is found all year round, but in the past, it was typically made in the rainy season, which is when pumpkin flowers and cuitlacoche abound and corn is harvested.

Small bites of Soup Milpa will be served after the demo.

Support for the Humanities Institute is provided by the Mellon Foundation.