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How important was chili to early cultures in our area?
Many would be surprised to see food included in a history exhibit. In September, we included food in our Hispanic-American History display that celebrates our very unique amalgamation of cultures in the southwest. The chile/chili pepper is indigenous to the Americas. (Note: Chile is the Spanish spelling and Chili is the English spelling.) Chilis are a typical flavoring in Sonoran food.
The Fourth Sister?
The “Three Sisters,”corn, beans and squash, are the triad of indigenous food culture in North and Central America. The beans are planted at the base of the corn stalks which offer them support as they reach for the sun. The beans offer beneficial nitrogen to the soil that fertilize the corn and squash. The squash’s large spiny leaves offer protection from destructive animals. These plants sustained populations from archaic eras to the present in our region.
But there was another “sister” that was equally important. The chile pepper became a domesticated staple in early cultures. Both Incas and Mayans cultivated as many as 30 capsicum (genus of the fruit plant in the nightshade family) varieties. The earliest evidence of chile peppers in diet was in Mexico in 7500 B.C.
When the Spanish arrived with Cortez in 1519, they were astounded by the size and intricacy of the Aztec marketplace in Tenochtitlan and that chiles were used as a form of money or barter. In 1529, Spanish explorers noted Aztec consumption of chile in almost every dish including hot chocolate – a drink called chicahuatl. It is alleged that Montezuma’s court consumed 50 jugs of chile-laced hot chocolate a day. His warriors often drank it to soothe their nerves before battle. Besides being a flavor enhancer, chile also helped in the preservation of food, a critical food supply factor for early people.
The Chiltepín
Derived from the Aztec language combining chilli + tecpintl (flea chile) due to its sharp bite. Botanists believe these wild chiles are the closest surviving species to the earliest chile species before humankind arrived in the Americas. Sonora is the home of the chiltepín and widely used in traditional Sonoran cuisine. It is also used as a preservative for carne seca (dried beef). The Tohono O’odham made annual pilgrimages to the Sierra Madre range to gather this wild delicacy. Chiltepíns are the second most expensive spice in the world after saffron.
[Source for article: Chile Peppers; A Global History by Dave DeWitt]
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Did you know that the Heritage Garden at Steam Pump Ranch is home to many “heirloom” crops including the “Three Sisters” and chile peppers? Joyce Rychener has been the Garden and Education Director and Board member of the Oro Valley Historical Society for a number of years. She is responsible for maintaining and preserving the heirloom crops indigenous to our area. Another way that the Oro Valley Historical Society is “keeping history alive!”
The Oro Valley Historical Society will present a new exhibit highlighting German-American Heritage and the Pusch Family at the Pusch House Museum at Steam Pump Ranch. The exhibit will be open on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of October (Oct. 9 and 23) from nine to noon. Be sure to stop by and find out about one of Oro Valley’s early ranchers. Bring a friend!
WE WANT YOU! The Oro Valley Historical Society is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit volunteer organization, whose mission is “To promote research, preservation, education, and dissemination of historical information related to the greater Oro Valley area”. We invite you to become a member or volunteer. Visit us at ovhistory.org and help keep Oro Valley history alive! We are currently looking for enthusiastic volunteers who are interested in becoming docents at the Pusch House museum and for Steam Pump Ranch tours or who would just like to lend a hand! Training sessions are being scheduled for October 9. We hope to hear from you. Contact: Teri at tcolmar@comcast.net
