THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



163 



196a) are nibbled entire, as are those of the wild form 

 (No. 38). When mature, only the pith and the seeds are 

 eaten, uncooked. Increased consumption probably would 

 benefit Totonac diet materially (pp. 169-170). 



Children suck the white pulp which surrounds the seed 

 of both the cultivated chalahiiite (Inga, No. 195) and the 

 wild form (No. 181). Occasionally the skin is removed 

 and the seed boiled with salt, to serve as a confection. 

 Youngsters also are fond of the pith within the pod of a 

 wild Pitliecellobium (No. 203). 



b. The cultivated gurupillo {Couepia, No. 339) produces 

 a fruit which is eaten raw. 



c. Upon rare occasions, children eat the fruit of the 

 chote (Parmentlera, No. 10), which is considered more 

 suitable for stock. This is in contrast to practice else- 

 where, for in markets near Mexico City the cooked fruit 

 occasionally is offered for sale by vendors who claim to 

 bring it from the neighboring State of Morelos. 



d. The fruit of a wild tree known as pudn (Muntingia, 

 No. 37) sometimes is collected, to be eaten by the family 

 or to be sold on small scale in Papantla. 



e. A monte alto fig (liigo, Ficus, No. 221) produces a 

 small fruit so little prized that informants are divided 

 in opinion as to whether or not it is edible. 



/. The ojite (Brosimum, No. 98) is another monte alto 

 tree. Its small, round fruits are collected, shelled, and 

 boiled with salt ; or they are stewed with brown or white 

 sugar. Local use is very limited. 



g. Four small trees or shrubs are called capulin (Ar- 

 disia, No. 21; Eugenia, Nos. 41, 85; Parathesis, No. 327) ; 

 all produce fruits which are collected sporadically. 



h. The guayabillo (Calpytranthes, No. 208) is a monte 

 alto tree; its relative, the guayabo (Psidium, No. 326), is 

 at most semicultivated. Both yield edible fruit ; that of 

 the latter is eaten raw or stewed. 



i. The annonas are not prominent locally. We collected 

 one wild form {anona de mono, Annona, No. 57) whose 

 fruit is edible, "but it is small." 



;. The wild Ouazuma (No. 218) is little esteemed, but 

 "some eat the fruit ; it is sweet when ripe." 



Jc. Manzanilla (Malvaviscus, No. 18) is a wild shrub 

 on whose fruit children sometimes nibble. 



I. Ouapilla (Br&melia, No. 283) produces a fruit which 

 may be eaten raw or prepared as a fermented beverage. 



m. A number of vines bear edible fruit ; those enumer- 

 ated below do not include cultivated cucurbits, since they 

 have been mentioned previously. The cahuayote (Gono- 

 lobus, No. 124) sometimes is planted. Its young fruit is 

 peeled and boiled with white or brown sugar ; or it is 

 peeled, squeezed, and the juice poured over brown sugar 

 sirup. Seed of the pusulucuate (possibly Apodaiithera, 

 No. 106) may be eaten "like a pomegranate." 



Other vines producing edible fruit are: chdpiso (No. 

 156) ; tomate de guajolote and granada del monte (both 

 Passiflora, Nos. 51, 162) ; bejuco de parra (Vitis, No. 187) ; 

 nigua del puerco (Paull'uiia, No. 52) ; and probably another 

 vine related to the last (cf. Nos. 207, 246). 



n. Two unidentified wild plants credited with edible 

 fruits are the pitaya de ardilla (No. 163) and the chataya 

 No. 315). The latter sometimes is sold in Papantla. 



Introduced fruits are relatively limited in num- 

 ber. The mango ripens in summer and is eaten 

 raw ; it is not sufficiently plentiful to be sold. Cit- 

 rus fruits are quite common, particularly the 

 orange and the lima. Both are eaten raw; the 

 juice of the bitter orange or of the lime (limon) is 

 squeezed into water to form a sort of lemonade, 

 which is sweetened with white sugar or with honey 

 from the Old World bee. 



Of all fruits, native or introduced, the banana is 

 the only one of major importance in Totonac diet. 

 Its use has been described above, in the discussion 

 of starchy foods. Vinegar is made from both the 

 pldtano Roatdn and the pldtano durazno. The 

 fruit is placed in a clay pot, without the addition 

 of either water or sugar. A cloth is tied tightly 

 over the mouth of the vessel, and as the banana dis- 

 integrates, it produces a liquid which, at the end of 

 a couple of weeks, is strained and used as vinegar. 

 The latter also is made from the rind of the pine- 

 apple, as noted above. Vinegar serves occasion- 

 ally to cure chilis or in making sausage ; it also is 

 considered medicinal. 



BEVERAGES 



Nonalcoholic beverages. — Coffee and atole are 

 the chief nonalcoholic drinks of the Totonac. 

 When there are funds for such a luxury, commer- 

 cial coffee is purchased in Papantla ; but more fre- 

 quently, a maize substitute, optimistically called 

 coffee, is served. It is prepared by toasting dry 

 kernels of maize on the baking plate until they are 

 well carbonized ; the burned grains then are ground 

 and used in lieu of commercial coffee. When a 

 Totonac speaks of coffee, generally he refers to this 

 innocuous substitute ; commercial coffee, as a rule, 

 is bought only for special occasions. And even at 

 large and important fiestas, the maize substitute is 

 served. Both legitimate and illegitimate coffee 

 are heavily sweetened with brown sugar. 



Probably chocolate was considerably more im- 

 portant in former times than it is today. Diaz del 

 Castillo (1 : 174) notes that among the Totonac of 

 "Cempoala" and "Quiahuixtlan," cacao is "the 

 best thing that they drink." Cacao formerly was 

 grown in the Papantla zone (Suma, No. 449), but 

 as far as we know, not a plant survives today. 



At present, chocolate is used almost exclusively 

 for feasts. The bean is bought in Papantla and is 

 ground on the metate, together with a couple of 



