An ancient crop domesticated in the Americas, amaranth has known both grandeur and obscurity. Considered a food of the Gods by the Aztecs, amaranth was a king among grains prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the New World. Important as both a ritual and cash crop, amaranth was used as tribute payment to the Aztec Empire from surrounding provinces, with nearly as much amaranth offered annually as corn and beans. The leaves, known as "huautli," were used as a vegetable and cooked liked spinach. Today, amaranth greens are commonly known as "quelite" or "bledo." Though a staple food for the Aztecs, amaranth was also considered sacred and was used in numerous ceremonies and religious rituals. The leaves were ground and used in tamales offered to Xiuhtecuhtli, the fire god. Ground amaranth seed was mixed with honey, sap from the maguey (agave) or blood and formed into shapes of various idols. These sacred figurines were then eaten ceremonially, a practice abhorred by the conquering Spanish as too closely approximating their own ritual observance of communion. Thus, all production and use of amaranth was banned by the Spanish. Amaranth was nearly forgotten as a crop. Luckily, its cultivation persisted in isolated pockets throughout Mesoamerica. Amaranth was also used and revered by the Incas in South America, where remoteness of the Andes provided safe haven-for isolated pockets of amaranth cultivation, also helping it to persist despite the Americas-wide ban.
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