As the warm smile is considered the universal language of kindness, I allow myself to denominate food as a universal language of happiness. You cannot buy happiness, but you can surely buy a cup of coffee and a chocolate bar, and that is kind of the same thing. Do you know that the Maya introduced the world to a number of new foods and the majority of your favorite desserts and dishes are their inventions? Maya food was a gorgeous combination of many foods that we take for granted now, in modern society.Many foods enjoyed by people in different parts of the world today, were first cultivated in ancient America by Mayas. One example of such food is a chocolate, the thing that we, the chocolate-lovers, should always be grateful. Mayas made the chocolate from cocoa beans and served only to wealthy people because it was considered not only delicious food but also a luxury. The list of Maya foods that changed the world’s eating habits includes vanilla, corn, chilies, tomatoes, black beans, avocado, sweet potato, squash, and papaya. Nowadays, it is hard to get through a day without those mentioned ingredients.They are broadly accepted and adopted by almost every nations’ cuisine. Therefore, we can all agree that Mayas were absolute leaders not only in astronomy, architecture, and politics but also they were magicians in kitchen.
-Mariam Khachatryan