The indigenous people ate what they had available including beans, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, cacao, chiles, turkey, capsicums, vanilla, squash, avocados and tropical fruits. Insects were an indispensable element in their diets. These foods were highly nutritious, and high in vitamins, minerals and proteins. Fats were used from animals such as wild boar, turkeys and armadillos. [From the online exhibit at The Tamale Museum]

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May 2006

Food Fun / More Food Fun / Fun Food Facts

The Tamale Museum

Celebrate Cinco De Mayo With A Virtual Tour

Near the galleries of Newport Beach, California, this serious culinary arts museum has exhibits and events focusing on the diverse history of tamales, a food dating back thousands of years. But you don’t have to be a Southern Californian to enjoy the works here: Online exhibits admit knowledge-hungry food fans from all over the world.

The two inaugural exhibits appeal to students of ancient civilizations and those with their fingers on the pulse of modern culture:

Comidas Prehispanicas
Elements of the Pre-Columbian Kitchen
A historic collection of photographs of foods of the Americas from pre-European times, including exotic fruits and vegetables, insects, eggs and larvae, fish, reptiles and mammals.
L.A. Taco Trucks
Latin Mobile Eateries of Southern California
Photorealist painter John Baeder exhibits a collection of watercolors of the famous “taco wagons” that are indigenous to the culture of the working class barrios of Southern California (one of the paintings is below).

For the online exhibits, visit TheTamaleMuseum.com.

One of the watercolors by John Baeder in the L.A. Taco Trucks
exhibit.