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from the amaizing-inauguration-of-the-liquid-lunch dept.
UNM researchers document the first use of maize in Mesoamerica:
The research, titled Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas and published by Prufer and his team in the journal Science Advances, reveals new information about when the now-ubiquitous maize became a key part of people’s diets. Until now, little was known about when humans living in the tropics of Central America first started eating corn. But the “unparalleled” discovery of remarkably well-preserved ancient human skeletons in Central American rock shelters has revealed when corn became a key part of people’s diet in the Americas.
[...] Maize was domesticated from teosinte, a wild grass growing in the lower reaches of the Balsas River Valley of Central Mexico, around 9,000 years ago. There is evidence maize was first cultivated in the Maya lowlands around 6,500 years ago, at about the same time that it appears along the Pacific coast of Mexico. But there is no evidence that maize was a staple grain at that time.
The first use of corn may have been for an early form of liquor.
Why eat tortillas when you can make booze?
Journal Reference:
Douglas J. Kennett, Keith M. Prufer, Brendan J. Culleton, et al. Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas [open], Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba3245)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Friday June 05 2020, @02:24AM (8 children)
Humanity has always seemed to apply the following rule to any new food item it discovers: before you do anything else, stick it in a vessel and see if it ferments into something no too toxic to can get drunk with. It's amazing the number of herbs, grains, tubers, saps and just about anythings that have been made into liquors.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PartTimeZombie on Friday June 05 2020, @02:42AM
Native Americans were also into the use of various psychedelic substances, but that may have been more about ritual than an after work refreshment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @03:05AM (5 children)
How did they know to distill liquor? I am talking tequila. Was it after the Spanish conquest?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday June 05 2020, @03:08AM (2 children)
No need to distill beer to get drunk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @03:14AM (1 child)
uhm... how does agave cactus beer taste?
(Score: 2) by Arik on Friday June 05 2020, @03:34AM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2020, @05:14AM
mayan descendant here, if you ever visit guatemala ask for chicha on a farmer's market or you know, just look it up how to make it. it's easy as hell
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 06 2020, @02:00PM
Alcohol and fermentation are some of those things that are found across all cultures because they happen by accident quite easily. All of the yeasts required to make alcohol generally live on the fruit/grain already, so if you forget about a container full of something, a couple months later you've got wine or beer.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Friday June 05 2020, @03:07PM
I would add that it does not really need to be edible. Those early maize breeds were probably much smaller, fibrous, and in-general not pleasing to eat. Looking at the genus page on Wikipedia you can see some of maize's closest relatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zea_(plant)#/media/File:Maize-teosinte.jpg [wikipedia.org]
If you identify a plant that is edible but not enjoyable, a low-tech processing step is to attempt to ferment it. Grind it up, add water, and see what happens. Modern maize is the result of thousands of years of selective breeding, and is one of the most dis-similar culinary plants compared to their wild counterpart.