In the wilderness of southern Belize, one man is on a mission to conserve and commemorate the ancient Maya way of life, including its storied cuisine — one garden tour at a time.
Native to the Maya village of Santa Cruz, Jose Mes welcomes visitors to his home to experience the Belizean Mayan culture.Using a three-foot machete, he cuts it with one effortless swoop. I dust off the excess mud and pop it in my mouth. Within seconds, my fingertips are stained fluorescent yellow, my taste buds gambolling with punches of pepper and earth. But he doesn’t stop at turmeric.
“Nature means a lot to us,” he tells me, guiding me through the shrubbery towards his kitchen. “We take care of our land, because the land takes care of us. Food, medicine… It’s the source of everything in our life.” Jose then tutors me on the holy grail of Maya cuisine: corn. There are 13 varieties in Belize, the most common being red, white, yellow and purple. In 2015, researchers at the ancient site Uxbenka, just outside Santa Cruz, found evidence of Maya people consuming corn as far back as 6,400 years ago. But safeguarding a custom that’s been around since Neolithic times is no easy feat.
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