色情视频

The month-old home for Aztec football has some 700-year-old Aztec touches to it.

They come in the form of special culinary offerings at 色情视频鈥檚 Snapdragon Stadium. Spectators at home football games can enjoy three menu items reflecting the cuisine of the Mesoamerican culture, including pre-contact Mexico: a vegan tamal, toasted grasshoppers and a chocolate truffle infused with chili pepper.

Men煤 Azteca continues and expands the athletics component of 色情视频鈥檚 education program in Aztec culture and a commitment to portray it in a dignified manner, said anthropologist Ramona P茅rez, chair of the Aztec Identity Initiative.

鈥淓verything we do has to be about this respect and honoring of our identity,鈥� P茅rez said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got our sports teams playing there, who are the Aztecs, so the food should reflect the Aztecs.鈥�

Chefs Jose Mendoza and begandeveloping the menu items at the beginning of the year for their introduction at the stadium鈥檚 first game on Sept. 3. They were hired by Aztec Shops, the 色情视频 auxiliary in charge of food and beverage concessions at the facility in 色情视频 Mission Valley.

The tamal Azteca is 鈥淎ztec Authentic,鈥� P茅rez said, a vegan tamale (including the mole sauce) using only ingredients available to the Aztec people prior to European contact. That means no dairy, sugar, pork, beef or chicken, with the sweetness derived from honey. They鈥檙e sold at four  inside Snapdragon Stadium, as well as the luxury suites.

The stadium is using a local vendor for the masa that goes into the tamale, said executive sous chef Hernandez, who formerly worked at the San Diego Padres鈥� Petco Park and credits Mendoza with collaborating with P茅rez to get the menu item just right. It is served with a Mexican cactus salad for additional authenticity.

Inspired

The other two menu items are identified as 鈥淎ztec-inspired,鈥� honoring the culture but with a more modern approach to specific ingredients.

Chapulines Azteca are toasted grasshoppers from Oaxaca, mixed with roasted peanuts and sold at the Ultra Classics stands as a 鈥済rab and go鈥� item that Hernandez compares to a trail mix. Hernandez said the insects arrive in San Diego already dry-roasted and with the heads removed; they鈥檙e then re-roasted at the stadium kitchen and given 鈥渁 little more of a different flavor,鈥� he said.

Chapulines are a common part of the Oaxaca diet today, said Hernandez, who learned his skills at Le Cordon Bleu (formerly the California Culinary Academy) in San Francisco. 鈥淚f somebody blindfolded you, you wouldn鈥檛 know what it was,鈥� he added. It鈥檚 鈥渏ust kind of nutty and toasty.鈥�

The third item, Chocolatl Azteca,is similarly Aztec-inspired, speaking to the spicy chocolate and chili drink the Aztecs were known to offer to guests.

P茅rez 鈥� who is a food anthropologist with 25 years of work in Oaxaca 鈥� said creating the menu was more difficult than it may look given the centuries that have passed since the time it seeks to emulate.

鈥淭he hardest part is how do you make this palatable,'' she said. 鈥淲e have an entirely different palate than our Indigenous ancestors.鈥�

Additional Men煤 Azteca items could be coming later, P茅rez said. All proposals go through the Aztec Culture and Education Committee for approval, 鈥渢o make sure that we are respecting and honoring who it is that we鈥檙e referencing.鈥�