THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



159 



the house, their wings are clipped. Wild birds 

 generally are eaten in soup or stew. Modesto 

 Gonzalez maintains that they may be served in 

 mole sauce, but others disagree ; practice may vary 

 from one family to another. 



Beef and pork. — Beef is purchased occasionally 

 in Papantla. Generally it is served in soup (cal- 

 do) , seasoned with garlic, onion, tomato, coriander, 

 and mint. Once in a while, the head of the family 

 buys a bit of jerked beef, which either is broiled or 

 fried. Rarely is beef served in mole sauce. 



Pork is infinitely more popular and is prepared 

 usually as tamales or with mole sauce. Descrip- 

 tions of these dishes have been given above 

 (pp. 154, 158). 81 



Some make blood sausage (rellena) of the large 

 intestine of the hog. It is washed well with lime 

 and the juice of the limon, care being taken not to 

 rupture the tissue. Blood, seasoned with cebollina 

 (little onion), mint, and chili, is poured into the 

 intestine and the latter securely tied. The gut 

 then is boiled until the blood solidifies, a matter 

 determined by pricking with a sharp stick. The 

 small intestines are not eaten by humans but are 

 fed the dogs. 



Cracklings (chicharrones, ^ikinmakaS), are a 

 general favorite. As a modest luxury, they may be 

 purchased in Papantla, or they are prepared in 

 Taj in when a hog has been slaughtered. Occa- 

 sionally, cracklings are made in small quantity, 

 from beef or from the papada of the turkey. 



The fat is peeled from the slaughtered hog, to- 

 gether with the skin. The two are separated and 

 the fat cut in squares, the skin in strips. All are 

 placed in a large copper vat with water and are 

 cooked over a hot bonfire, being stirred constantly 

 with a stick. During our stay, one lot did not turn 

 out successfully — little lard, and the cracklings 

 half-burned. It was concluded that "either a preg- 

 nant woman or someone who once had been bitten 

 by a snake" must have approached the kettle. 



81 Mention should be made of zacahuile, a special dish prepared 

 in Papantla for All Souls' Day, as part of the food offering dedi- 

 cated to the spirits of demised adults. Roberto Williams knows 

 this dish from Tuxpan, Chicontepec, and from various parts of 

 the Huasteca. In Tajfn, it is made only by the wife of Lorenzo 

 Xochigua. who happens to be from Papantla. 



The local, cultivated chili is boiled and ground. Maize dough 

 is mixed with it to form a paste about the consistency of gruel. 

 Pork or chicken is added and the mixture placed in a clay vessel 

 lined with banana leaves. Leaves also are used as a covering. 

 The concoction is cooked for several hours in a hot oven. 



Game. — Game is of scant importance in the 

 diet, and represents little more than an occasional 

 windfall. Game birds have been included above, 

 with domestic fowl. Most other game is smoked 

 and served in a stew. This applies specifically to 

 venison, squirrel, rabbit, and armadillo. Some- 

 times rabbit is not smoked, but is boiled with 

 garlic, chili, and tomato. Armadillo is said to be 

 very acceptable served with mole sauce. The flesh 

 of a feline (oma, oncilla; tankiwi) is similarly 

 prepared but is far from popular. Few care for 

 the meat of the peccary. Some eat raccoon and 

 opossum, but we neglected to ask in what form. 

 The prairie dog is declared inedible by some; 

 others claim that it is broiled and eaten. Skunk 

 meat is considered exclusively medicinal. 



Fish. — Small fish from the arroyos are smoked 

 before they are made into a soup, with goosefoot, 

 cebollina, coriander, and salt. Sometimes fresh- 

 water mussels are tossed into the broth. 



From time to time, the Totonac buy a dried fish 

 in Papantla, known as sdbalo (tisku 9 wikamakni), 

 which usually is served with mole sauce. Another 

 dried fish, purchased occasionally, is called lisa. 

 It is washed and soaked in water, then broiled or 

 fried. Sometimes it is served with mole; some- 

 times it is dipped in egg and fried, then placed in 

 hot water, together with cebollina, coriander, and 

 chili. The latter is either the local wild form, 

 green or dry, or the chili known as pico de pdjaro. 



The roe of the same fish is sold in Papantla in 

 November and December. It is washed, toasted, 

 and ground on the metate. A raw egg is added and 

 the paste fried as a cake. It may be eaten thus, 

 or the cake converted into a soup or served with 

 mole. 



Fresh water shrimp (camaron) is made into 

 stew. Corn dough, well ground and thinned with 

 water, is dropped into boiling water and stirred. 

 The shell and head are removed from the shrimps, 

 which then are washed and added to the gruel, 

 together with chili. The latter is the dry, wild 

 form, ground and water added; it is allowed to 

 stand until the seeds drop to the bottom. Then 

 the liquid, containing the ground chili is poured 

 into the stew; the seeds are not included. Some 

 flavor shrimp stew with goosefoot. 



Another kind of shrimp (acamaya), regarded 

 as particularly tasty, is washed, sprinkled with 

 salt, and placed on the clay griddle to toast. 



