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All Saints Night at the Saint George’s Cemetery (c) Peace Corps
November 1 is All Saints’ Day. It is that day when we remember and honor our dead with prayers, candlelight, drink, sweets, and most of all, food.
The All Saints’ culinary alphabet begins with the letter “C”- C standing for Corn [maize] a Mesoamerican crop that arguably is our keenest symbol of generosity. Every ear of corn is a call to
unity and community-making. Of course, giving food is at the apex of the moral systems of agricultural societies: the kitchen sits the parliament of the agrarian community.
Mesoamerica is an area extending roughly from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua. Mesoamerica’s cultural generosity gave the world a number crops that saved many millions in Europe, Asia and Africa.
“These crops include maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peanuts, manioc, cacao, as well as various kinds peppers, beans, and squashes” says William H.McNeill (born October 31,1917), a Canadian-American world historian and author.