The Nahua meal is not divided into starter-main-dessert but revolves around maize: the tlaxcalli (nixtamalized maize tortilla or tamal) serves as a base and edible spoon, accompanied by a milli (chili sauce or stew), beans, and squash. Atolli (maize porridge) is drunk daily; whisked cacao foam remains reserved for lords, warriors, and rites. Offerings to the gods — amaranth cakes, flowers, copal — form a separate category, food not only eaten for oneself but given back to the sky.

Foundational gesture of all Mesoamerican cuisine: the maize grain is cooked in ash or lime water (nextli) to loosen its skin, release its aromas, and make it nutritious. From this dough (masa) come tortillas, tamales, and porridges. Without nixtamal, there is no Mexica table — it is the breath that animates the grain, as the wind animates the world.