This book describes the foods and foodways of the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca by presenting a history of the plants and animals of the New World, the “ingredients” of the cuisines that would emerge, and a description of those cuisines. As the introduction states, the book “celebrates” these early cuisines and their contribution to humanity.
Sophie Coe begins with a survey of the major staples—maize, manioc, potatoes—followed by a description of other foods common in the indigenous diet. Her observations on the origins, domestication, and diffusion of some plants help to place the cuisines in a broader biological and cultural context. Although the author frequently criticizes established knowledge (for example, the often mentioned trilogy of maize, beans, and squash, which she calls a later invention of anthropologists), she does not reveal much that is new in this discussion.
Coe continues with lengthy but uneven treatments of cuisine and culture among the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca, making interesting observations on meals, cooks, and cooking. Careful descriptions of foods and food practices are the strength of these sections of the book. The author appropriately places the foods in a broader cultural context in an attempt to interpret their cultural and historical significance; but what is lacking is a thorough discussion of why particular foods and practices developed in some areas and not in others. Little effort is made at systematic comparisons of the different cuisines, and at times it is difficult to understand why some foods are emphasized in the context of one culture rather than another.
The most questionable sections of the book describe the postconquest diffusion and use of food. Several assertions about dietary change after the conquest are unsubstantiated or misleading. Here the problem is the failure to consult much of the recent anthropological and historical literature on food in colonial Latin America and early modern Europe. The work the author does consult is too often dismissed as naive and misdirected, but without reference to specific authors or titles. Furthermore, the book lacks a comprehensive bibliography.
Despite the weaknesses, however, the author has written a useful introduction to the complex world of cuisine among these three Native American groups. In this sense, she has accomplished her objective of celebrating these cuisines. The work lacks methodological rigor, but it offers sympathetic and at times wise and insightful observations on its subject.
