THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 — KELLY AND PALERM 



161 



generally is diluted with water, so that "it will not 

 be injurious." Honey of the native bee occasion- 

 ally is eaten with pan de agua (a bread said to be 

 made of flour, salt, and water, without egg) ; gen- 

 erally, it is used only medicinally. 



OILS AND FATS 



The Totonac are blessed with a wide variety of 

 vegetable oils, although none is available in great 

 quantity. Several evidently are native and pre- 

 sumably were used in prewhite days. 



There are various kinds of avocados, the fruit 

 of which has a high oil content; generally it is 

 eaten with tortillas, much as we eat butter on 

 bread, but accompanied by the ubiquitous chili 

 sauce. Although there is an abundance of avo- 

 cados, they are not eaten with great enthusiasm; 

 it is believed that overindulgence may be fatal. 



Other plants produce their oil in the form of 

 seeds, which are treated according to an established 

 pattern : they are toasted on the baking plate, then 

 ground to release the oil. Seeds of one of the 

 local squashes (pipidn), of the physic nut (Jatro- 

 pha, No. 192) , and of the local, perennial cotton 

 (Nos. 8, 9) all are prepared thus, before they are 

 added to a variety of dishes. Diaz del Castillo 

 (1 : 191) remarks that the Totonac of "Cempoala" 

 eat cotton seeds, and it seems probable that this oil 

 was of greater importance formerly than it is to- 

 day. Presumably, it has been largely replaced by 

 sesame and hog lard. 



Infrequently, the nut of the coyol palm (probab- 

 ly Acrocomia, No. 362) is substituted for squash 

 seed or sesame, but the use of palm oil is negligible. 

 However, coyol nuts are a great favorite with the 

 children, who crack the shells between stones and 

 nibble the contents with evident relish. 



It is possible that in former times the seed of the 

 zapote cabello (Licania, No. 90) also provided a 

 vegetable oil. The seeds were broken, boiled, dried 

 in the sun, and "ground as if they were pipidn.'''' 

 The latter statement suggests an oily product. 

 Since the seed of a tree of the same genus produces 

 oil in such quantity that it is exploited commer- 

 cially, possibly the zapote cabello shares this prop- 

 erty on a smaller scale (Standley, p. 343; Marti- 

 nez, 1928, pp. 64-65). 



The peanut is grown occasionally, as a garden 

 curiosity (No. 313), but cannot be considered a 

 local food product — either now or in ancient times. 



Yet, despite the lack of this important American 

 cultivate, it would appear that in aboriginal days 

 the Totonac were pretty well provided with vege- 

 table oils. 



In historic times, the sesame has become a sig- 

 nificant source of oil ; its seeds are treated precisely 

 as are those of most native plants. Moreover, the 

 castor plant — introduced, but naturalized — is ex- 

 ploited occasionally for its oil. Two kinds of cas- 

 tor (Nos. 249, 250) are distinguished, a white and 

 a red ; it is the seed of the latter which is used in 

 cooking. We asked concerning the taste and were 

 told, "It has the flavor of oil." 



Although sesame is important, it has by no 

 means replaced the native vegetable oils. On the 

 score of fats, the chief Old World contribution 

 undoubtedly is hog lard. This is highly prized 

 and is used extensively, at least by the families who 

 can afford it. 



VEGETABLES AND FRUITS 



Vegetables. — In our sense of the word, vegetables 

 are little used in Tajin. One of the most impor- 

 tant is the wild tomato, which is both plentiful 

 and popular during much of the year; chili has 

 been treated above, under condiments. 



Several wild plants are eaten as greens. Two 

 kinds of quelite (Amaranthus, Nos. 104, 105) are 

 distinguished, both edible in December and Jan- 

 uary. The boiled leaf is served with oil of sesame, 

 squash seed, or physic nut, with coriander, chili, 

 and cebollina added for flavor. One housewife 

 prefers to dip the leaves in egg and fry them; 

 another adds the boiled leaves to beans. The leaf 

 of quitacalzon (Phytolacca, No. 29) is boiled, then 

 chopped and fried with egg, or added to a pot of 

 beans. 



Perhaps the most popular wild green is the 

 young leaf of yerba mora (Solatium, No. 6), which 

 is boiled and drained, then boiled anew in fresh 

 water, to remove a bitter element; usually the 

 cooked leaf is combined with egg and fried. A 

 composite (Sonchus, No. 93) is treated similarly; 

 "the older people still eat this plant, but the young 

 ones do not care for it." Another composite 

 (Porophyllum, No. 5) is eaten entire, raw, or is 

 combined with chili sauce and tortillas, to make a 

 variant of enchiladas. Once in a while, the young 

 leaf of lelekes (Leucaena y No. 38) is nibbled raw. 

 It is said that in Talaxca, the leaf of the Jalapa 



