Unlike many other ancient civilizations, the ancient Maya have resisted the passage of time, and many of them have proudly remained and pertain today to a modern Maya culture. Thanks to today’s Mayas is how we know about beliefs, traditions and what kind of eating habits their Maya ancestors had.

The main ingredients of the Maya food were corn, beans, and squash. This basic diet has remained for centuries, but, the modern Maya diet differs because it incorporated European foods that were unknown by Mayas at the ancient times, such as rice, wheat, chicken, and pork and modern foods are replacing this rich culture more and more day by day.

In the ancient Maya diet, corn was perhaps the most important food and source of nutrients. First, they dried the kernels and removed them from the cob, and then they soaked these kernels in a solution of water and lime, removing the casings from each kernel. Thus, the Maya exposed the amino acids and other nutrients of the corn. The corn could then be grinded and used to make tortillas, that are still popular  in the Mexican diet.

Beans for the Maya were a major source of protein. They mashed them up and spread them inside the tortillas to make tacos.

Squash came in many different varieties, and the Maya used all of the squash, raw, dried and roasted as a snack. Also other fruits and vegetables, like the avocado, papaya, guava, and breadnut, were either cultivated or collected from the wild. Chilies were used as condiments to spice up the beans.

Although meat was not the hub of the Mayan diet, they ate a wide variety of animals were from rabbits to armadillos, monkeys to tapirs, macaws  and other types of fowls, turtles and iguanas but  most common meat eaten by the Maya was turkey and dog which were domesticated. The Maya diet was also supplemented by the exploitation of maritime resources, including fish, lobster, shrimp, conch and shellfish.

The Mayans are believed to be the first people to have discovered and cultivated the cacao plant. They ground the cacao grains and mixed them with chilies, cornmeal and honey to create a drink called xocolatl.

Food distribution was maybe the highlight of the Maya economy. The most prominent activity was trade. For some reason, the Maya did not use burden animals nor wheeled vehicles. All goods that were traded were transported by Mayas on their backs.