THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



155 



dough is placed in the sun to dry for a day or two, follow- 

 ing which it again is ground on the metate, with the 

 addition of brown sugar and fennel. The dough is packed 

 tightly in a commercial mold or in an improvised one made 

 of yucca leaf. The leaf is torn lengthwise in strips, each 

 about 1 cm. wide and 20 cm. long. The ends of each strip 

 are tied and are secured with a small wire, to form a 

 circle into which the dough is packed. The cakes are 

 cooked in an oven, if one is available; if not, on the fiat 

 baking plate, being turned so that they may cook on both 

 sides. 



e. Cernosas (tagpuyujun). Nixtamal is ground; salt 

 and lard are added, working lightly with the hands, so that 

 the dough may be well mixed, but without exerting pres- 

 sure. A handful of the resulting mixture is removed and 

 is sprinkled lightly on the hot baking plate, in the form of 

 a disk. The result is a light, somewhat spongy, unsweet- 

 ened cake. 



/. Totopos (tamaktin, untoasted; ska-wawa, toasted). 

 These are sweet cakes. The nixtamal is well washed and 

 is ground until it forms a fine paste. The ground seed of 

 fennel and brown sugar are mixed with lard and added 

 to the dough ; some include an egg or two. When the 

 dough is well mixed, it is formed into a thin sheet, using 

 the hand stone of the metate. With a bamboo splint, 

 which has a sharp edge, the dough is cut into rectangles, 

 which are cooked on the flat baking plate. 



g. Pemoles (Totonac name not recorded). The nixtamal 

 is ground and is placed in the sun to dry, "until it is like 

 flour." It then is sifted over a table. A bit of fennel and 

 brown sugar are ground together on the metate and, to- 

 gether with sesame oil or cold lard, are mixed with the 

 meal. Two eggs are kneaded in. When the dough is 

 ready, it is spread on the table in sheet-form and is cut 

 in small squares with a knife. The resulting cakes are 

 quite thick. They are arranged on a tin tray and are 

 baked in the oven. 



h. Pinole (Skapaf) is made from any kind of corn. 

 The kernels are toasted and ground, and grated brown 

 sugar is added. The powder is eaten as a confection ; for 

 small children, it is moistened with water, "so that they 

 will not choke." 



i. Maize fungus. The black fungus which sometimes 

 appears on the ears of corn is attributed to the fact that 

 some inconsiderate person has defecated in the milpa. 

 However, the fungus is not spurned as food. 



It is collected from several ears and brought to the 

 house. The black substance is ground with salt and goose- 

 foot and is combined with maize dough to form a cake 

 which an informant considers a variant of the gordita 

 described above. Sometimes the fungus is cooked with 

 goosefoot, wild tomato, and lard, to form a sort of broth. 



OTHER STARCHY FOODS 



By any standards, the Totonac are well supplied 

 with starches. Apart from maize, starchy foods 

 include plantains and bananas, cucurbits, and as- 

 sorted roots and tubers. 



Plantains and bananas. — Most families have at 

 least a few plantain and banana trees, and some 

 have a considerable excess of fruit. Accordingly, 

 even if by chance a given family should have an 

 insufficient supply, fruit is available locally at 

 small cost. To avoid depredations of the opossum, 

 it is cut green and the racemes hung from the raft- 

 ers of the kitchen to ripen. 



As a rule, bananas are eaten raw, plantains, 

 cooked. Both kinds of plantain (pldtano de Cos- 

 tilla and pldtano macho) are roasted in the ashes 

 near the hot coals, being turned frequently until 

 they are cooked. If the fruit is ripe, the skin is left 

 on ; if green, the skin is removed prior to roasting. 

 Salt and lard may be added to make the dish more 

 tasty. Plantains often are fried or boiled ; in the 

 latter case, twigs are placed on the floor of the pot, 

 so that the fruit will not stick. 



Sometimes green plantain (pldtano de Costilla) 

 is peeled and boiled, after which it is mashed and 

 fried. In this form, it is eaten with beans, as a 

 substitute for tortilla. Or, three or four plantains 

 or bananas of any kind may be ground and the 

 paste mixed with maize dough; the mixture is 

 patted into cakes (cacau seakna), which are 

 baked on the clay griddle. 



It is said that years ago there was a great cold 

 spell and the maize crop failed. As an emergency 

 measure, the root of the banana (plantain?) was 

 ground and mixed with maize dough to make 

 tortillas. 



Cucurbits. — A 1 1 h o u g h the two principal 

 squashes raised by the Totonac are of closely re- 

 lated species, they are utilized in quite distinct 

 ways. One (calabaza) produces edible flesh; the 

 other (pipidn) edible seeds; neither blossom is 

 eaten. 



Young calabaza is served as a soup ; it is cut in 

 small pieces and is boiled with salt, tomato, cebo- 

 llin-a, goosefoot, and green, wild chili, which has 

 been ground. 



Once the calabaza is mature, it is cooked with 

 brown sugar, to form a preserve. The latter is 

 eaten following the noon meal ; or it is nibbled on 

 in mid-morning, as a between-meal snack. It is 

 not served at breakfast or supper, as is almost in- 

 variably the case in west Mexico. A special form 

 of calabaza is said to have a thin rind and to be so 

 sweet that it does not require the addition of brown 

 sugar. This is steamed and eaten as is the more 

 common type. 



89347T— 52- 



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