墨西哥人的玉米情结

孙小燕　罗　丹

Corn in Mexico

Corn originated in Mexico, “A gift of the gods” is how corn was regarded by the Indians of Mexico. In the past 5000 years,this amazing crop has been the third most important crop in the world because of the hard-working and wisdom of Mexican people.

The history of corn

The European settlers did not know what corn (called maize) was until they received gifts of corn from the local Indians. From then on,corn was gradually becoming part of their daily food.

4000 years ago,during Maya periods,corn was the main crop and food supplies. Archaeologists believe that corn was eaten by ancient Mexicans for as long as since 5,000 B.C.

Many a legend about the origin of corn is told in modern Mexican aboriginal. However, according to the evidence of archeology, corn was once a sort of wild millet growing in Mexico 5000 years ago. Nowadays, hundreds of kinds of corn have been developed by means of variation and evolution.

At present,corns planting and processing technique in Mexico is unexampled. It is the Mexican people who first develop and extend color corn,such as dark blue,red,yellow,white,green and so on.Foreigners who go shopping in Mexican supermarkets for the first time would be very surprised at the sight of thousands of kinds of corn food.

Nowadays corn is mostly grown in southern and central Mexico.Even though Mexico produces so much corn,it does not feed their growing population. Since most of the Mexican farmers have not applied modern techniques to their farms, their total outcome in corn is very small.

Mexican people thrive on corn. Today, this amazing crop is still a staple food for them and it is responsible for nearly half of their calories from daily food. However,with the extension of food structure,most large cities population has started to eat less corn.

Corn and religion

Corn is revered by the Mexican and American Indian peoples.In the traditional Navajo Indian wedding ceremony,the brides grandmother presents the couple with a basket of cornmeal and the couple exchanges a small handful with each other.

In the religion culture of ancient Indians,corn was honored by people.Many myths and legends about corn have passed from generation to generation in Mexico,several corn Gods are believed in by ancient Indians.Besides,in Maya myth,humans body is made of corn by God,Men of Corn has been a code name for the Indians in Central America in the agrestic culture.

Corn culture

Like Wine Culture and Tea Culture in other places,Mexican people shape their own Corn Culture,Corn Cuisine Culture is the most famous among them.According to statistics,there are more than 605 traditional food made from corn. The corn is ground into flour,mixed with water and made into tortillas.Mexican people have tortillas at their three meals every day.Therefore,Western people call tortillas as Mexicans bread.

Mexican people are very talented,they not only make good use of the fruit of corn,and they also make interesting crafts out of cornstalk. In the culture market of Mexico City,a lot of toys made of corn are available everywhere.

墨西哥是玉米的故乡，在墨西哥印第安人的眼中，玉米就是神赐予他们的神圣礼物。在漫漫的5000年里，玉米这种神奇的黍类从过去的不为人知一跃成为世界第三大粮食来源，离不开墨西哥人的勤劳与智慧。

玉米的起源

当欧洲定居者到达墨西哥的这片土地上时，他们还不知道玉米是什么，直到他们收到当地印第安人送给他们用玉米做成的礼物。从那以后，玉米也慢慢成了他们日常饮食的一部分。

4000年前的玛雅时期，在印第安人的培育下，玉米已经成为主要农作物和粮食来源。更有考古学家认为，古墨西哥人早在公元前5000年就开始食用玉米了。

关于玉米的起源，在现代墨西哥土著居民中流传着很多传说。然而，据现代考古学证实，玉米起源于5000年前一种生长在墨西哥的野生种植在墨西哥的南部和中部黍类。如今，经过数千年的变异和演化，今天的玉米已经拥有数百品种。

现在的墨西哥人对玉米的种植和加工技术可以说是已经发展到了极致。墨西哥人最先培育并推广了彩色玉米，像深蓝色、红色、黄色、白色、绿色等。去墨西哥超市买东西的外国人，都会为种类繁多的玉米食品惊讶不已。

今天，墨西哥人主要把玉米种植在南部和中部，不过，即便墨西哥每年能生产大量的玉米，却仍然无法满足日益增长的人口的需要。由于大多数的墨西哥农民还没有采用现代种植技术，因此他们玉米的产量都不高。

玉米对于墨西哥人来说是生命的源泉。今天，玉米仍是墨西哥人的主食，玉米则提供了墨西哥人日常生活中近一半的热量。不过，随着食物结构的拓展，一些大城市的居民已经开始减少对玉米的食用量。

玉米与宗教

一直以来，墨西哥和美国的印第安民族对玉米怀着一种敬畏之情。在传统的纳瓦霍印第安人的婚礼上，新娘的奶奶会为新娘和新郎送上一篮子的玉米粉，然后新娘和新郎互相交换一把玉米粉。

在古代印第安人的宗教文化中，玉米已经超出了普通食物的概念。墨西哥民间有流传着许多关于玉米的神话和传说,古代印第安人信奉的诸神中，也有好几位玉米神。不仅如此，在玛雅人的神话中，人的身体就是造物主用玉米做成的；在乡土文化中，“玉米人”已经成为对中美洲印第安人的一个代称。

玉米文化

同其他地区的“酒文化”“茶文化”一样，墨西哥人也酝酿出自己的“玉米文化”，其中最值得称道的应该是“玉米烹饪文化”。据统计，用玉米制作的小吃和菜肴总数有605种之多。墨西哥人把玉米磨成粉，加水混合做成传统小吃“塔哥”。墨西哥的男女老幼一日三餐少不了“塔哥”。因此，西方人把“塔哥”称作墨西哥人的面包。

墨西哥人的智慧不仅体现在对玉米果实的利用上，他们还利用玉米秆等制成生动有趣的手工艺品。在墨西哥城的文化市场上，各种以玉米为材料的小玩具随处可见。