Food - Drink
How Guacamole Was Originally Prepared
By Abby Smith
The word “guacamole," originally āhuacamolli from the Aztec language Nahuatl, is a portmanteau of the words “mole” meaning sauce, and “āhuaca” meaning avocado. But how similar is today’s guacamole compared to what the Aztecs prepared centuries ago?
Guacamole is said to have been created as a gift by the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, as per World's Garden. Although this origin remains to be proven, we do know that the Aztecs were eating mashed avocado sometime before the 16th century.
After the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the New World, avocados were spread around the world via the Columbian Exchange. With this transfer, guacamole began morphing into what we know today, with the addition of tomato, onion, garlic, chili peppers, lime, and cumin from Central America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.