The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-02-24
FOOD IN MEXICO.
The Peculiar Dishes Priced BY the De
scendants of the Montezumas.

scendants of the Montezumas.
A kind of griddle cakes, called tortil-
las, made from the eggs of marsh fly.
are considered the greatest of delicacies
by these descendants of the Montezumas.
No doubt it is an inherited taste-a relic
Of the days when their vagrant ancestors
prowled around the margins of the salt
lakes that once filled the valley of Mex
leo, subsisting upon flies. grasshoppers,
frogs, tadpoles and salamanders. Span
ish history speaks of bread made by the
early Mexicans from the eggs of the
axayacatl (Ahuatlea Mexicana), the
same that is sold to-day in the markets.
Thomas Gage, jollymonk, who visited
this country in 1925, writes about it as
follows: "The Indians gathered much
of these eggs, and kept them in heaps,
and made thereof cakes. like unto brick
bats. : And they did eat this at
meals with as good stomach as we eat
cheese; yea. and they hold opinion that
this scum of fairness of the waters is the
cause that such number of fowl COM
eth to the lake, which in the winter sea-
son is infinite. y fg7
The Indians have asystematic method
of collecting this peculiarly Mexican
product, which is found in the greatest
profusion upon the five now shallow
lakes near the City of Mexico. They
plant bundles of reeds, few feet apart,
with their tops sticking out of the wa
ter. Here the insects deposit their eggs
in incredible quantities, so that the
rushes are soon loaded with them, cling
ing together in great balls, heaped one
above another. Then the punches Of
reeds are carefully removed from the
water, shaken over sheet, and depos-
tied as before to collect fresh supply.
The eggs are compressed into paste,
sometimes mixed with little cornmeal
or the eggs of fowls, and form a staple
article Of Indian diet, particularly dur.
ing Lent. We are told that the Con.
quistadores found them exceedingly pail
atable, but were obliged to partake
sparingly because of their swelling
properties danger not discovered till
several doughty crusaders turned up
their toes to the daisies from this igno-
BILE cause.
Yellowish worms called paxl--the
larvae of the axayacatl-are also eagerly
sought as tidbits, and prepared fo1 the
! table in various ways. The insects are
about the size of horse-fy. and their
eggs resemble fine fish roe. Frequently
the flies themselves are pounded into
paste, or boiled in corn husks, and thus
eaten. Both this mixture and the cakes
find ready sale. and look as tempting as
many of the messes one encounters here,
but as to their flavor | can not testify
from experimental knowledge. The
word axayacatl signifies waterfall
and is the symbol Of the sixth King Of
Mexico, who reigned here exactly four
hundred and twenty-four years ago.
A hideous water lizard abounds in the
fishless salt lake, Texcoco, and lis still as
eagerly sought for food as in the days
when Cortez was obliged to subsist his
army upon it. 1t is called axolotl (pro-
nounced ah-holotD, and is batrachian
of the amblystoma type of salamander.
resembling fish with webbed feet and
flat tail. It is about ten inches long,
spotted, black and white in color, with
broad tongue, and singular gills that re.
semble feathers-three on each side OF
the head Its flesh is white, like that Of
an eel, and is said to be savory and
wholesome TIL. Indians boil them in
corn husks-of course without taking
the trouble to wash or clean them and
are forever Offering them for sale on the
streets, or thrusting them between the
bars of your window.-Cor. Washington
Republican.