Aztecs
The Aztec Indians, who were known for their domination of Southern and Central Mexico, ruled between the 14th and 16th centuries. The ancestors of the mighty Aztecs migrated for many years before settling sometime in the 13th century in the Valley of Mexico where the Empire later existed. The Aztecs were formed after the Toltec civilization occurred when hundreds of civilians moved towards Lake Texcoco. In the 1320's the Aztecs had established their capital city Tenochtitlan (present day Mexico City). Soon after this first city was built, temples and other structures and statues came shortly after.The center of the Aztec civilization was the Valley of Mexico, which placed them at about 7.5 thousand feet above sea level, which provided them with a very reasonable climate in spite of being in the tropics. Even though their Empire was placed so high above sea level, the area had many marshes by Lake Texcoco, which made farming somewhat difficult. Families in these swamplands had only one piece of land to farm on, but they made useful chinapas. Chinapas were little islands formed by piled up mounds of mud. On these mounds the Aztecs grew corn, beans, various chili peppers, avocados, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, and tobacco. T
An interesting thing that I found out about the Aztecs was that they were the first to discover chocolate. They made chocolate from the fruit of the cacao tree and used it as a favoring and as an important ingredient in various beverages and all kinds of confectionary. In 1519, when Cortes invaded the Aztec Empire he tasted the chocolate drink "Cacahuatt", which was greatly enjoyed by Montezuma II, the last Aztec Emperor. Cortes liked this unusual drink and wanted to know its secret. Cortes observed that the Aztecs treated cacao beans, used to make the special drink, as priceless treasures. He later brought the precious beans back to his native Spain where the chocolate drink was made and then heated with added sweeteners. Its recipe was kept secret and to be enjoyed only by nobility. However, the secret formula was released and the drink's fame spread to other lands and was later introduced to England in 1657. Montezuma enjoyed a certain special dish and chocolate was an important ingredient. The recipe was called Mole De Poblano and it follows: To make the above dish Mole De Poblano, put the chicken pieces in a large pan with the onion and three garlic cloves, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for thirty minutes. Drain and reserve the stock. Dry chicken pieces. Melt lard in a pan and gently fry the chicken until golden brown. Remove the seeds and stems from the chilies, tear them up and soak the ripped pieces in 300 ml of boiling water for thirty minutes. Puree the chilies with their water, the rest of the onions, rest of garlic, tomatoes, nuts, pepper seeds, spices, a
Some common words found in the essay are:
De Poblano, Cactus Aztec, Emperor Cortes, Lake Texcoco, Montezuma II, Empire Aztecs, Mexico City, Valley Mexico, II Quetzalcoatl, Quetzalcoatl God, montezuma ii, chicken pieces, capital city, mole de poblano, lake texcoco, mexico city, pieces pan, legend stated, garlic cloves, chicken pieces pan, aztec empire, 5 ml,
Approximate Word count = 1080
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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