Food for thought: a taste of México in Hernán Cortés’s Segunda carta-relación

Abstract

Pressed for time, in need of defending his rebellious actions, and lacking the words which could convey the vast wonders of the New World, Hernan Cortés has no other choice but to sharpen his rhetorical skills in order to provide Emperor Charles V with such a delightful taste of Mexico that his majesty will rejoice in the newly discovered country with gusto, leaving him hungry not only for more news, but also for its sumptuous, tantalizingly delicious, mouth-watering foods. In Segunda Carta de relación the conqueror offers the Spanish monarch a taste of the new polis, both in its literal and metaphorical senses, for the text is rife with savory edibles which serve juicier purposes than merely to illustrate the flora and fauna of the newly-conquered lands.Well-versed in the art of rhetoric, for he had studied at university, Cortés had received legal training and had worked as a notary and as a secretary to the governor for several years. He had, therefore, become an expert at drafting legal documents, which accounts for his calibrated choice of words in his chronicle. His frequent references to foodstuffs are, in fact, a key ingredient in the concoction of a narrative whose royal addressee is a well-known glutton. Writing during the throes of the reconquest of Mexico, the conquistador must come up with a recipe for success which will legitimize his usurpation of power to Governor Diego Velázquez, justify the loss of the Aztec empire, and win the sanction of his majesty to continue with his expedition in the New World. The crafting of this document certainly boils down to the urgent need that the conquistador has of informing the king of the Spanish defeat after the well-known “Night of sorrows,” as well as to justify his legal status as a traitor. Digesting such bitter news must certainly have been a hard pill to swallow for a monarch with an insatiable appetite for more lands to rule, for riches to finance the constant wars which jeopardized his massive empire, and for exotic delicacies to enjoy at his Pantagruelian feasts. To the cunning Cortés there was certainly no better way to present those events than by sweetening them with the variety of foods described in his narrative.