Ahuauhtle
by hughpierre
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Ahuautle comes from the eggs of a bed bug that reproduces in water. Its eggs look like amaranth grains, but has a penetrating smell and a unique flavor comparable to shrimp. The season to eat it starts from Huey Tecuilhuitl and ends around the Feast for the Mountains.
Ahuahutle is eaten in cakes coated in fried eggs, roasted on the comal, dipped in sauce and baked into tamales or pancakes with turkey eggs.
Manufacturing process
Xumali
Xumali are the bunches of grass on the lake shores where the mosquitoes spawn during Toxcatl.- Female bugs deposit their eggs on aquatic vegetation in lakes
- These nesting sites are bound together with a rope and spaced out on the bottom of the lakes using stones to keep them in place
- Collectors detach the eggs from the grass and load them into wicker baskets
- They are later shaken to separate out garbage and deposited onto mats or dry branches or leaves on the banks to dry for 15 to 20 days
- Once washed, they are toasted a little and grounded into a very fine flour that is mixed with egg whites, small pieces of nopal, tecuitlatl and salt.
- The batter can be fried in oil or ahuacamulli and served with the mīchin mōli sauces
Significance
Uetzcayotl delighted in eating them fresh from the lake at morning timeThey are brought to the court in the Sacred Precinct daily, so that the emperor can have them fresh for his breakfast. During the ceremony, little axayácatl eggs are sprinkled over the incarnate's lethal wound to symbolically feed the fire.
Alternate Names
- Water Amaranth
- Water Balls
- Water Fly
Item type
Consumable, Food / Drink
Current Location
Manufacturer
Related Technologies
Owning Organization
Rarity
Cultivation is simple and cheap, though they reach high prices in the market due to high demand
Base Price
4 cacao beans per palm
Raw materials & Components
- Axayacatl
Tools
- Bundles of Twigs, Grasses or Reed Bundles
- Rope
- Wicker Baskets
Comments