full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Germán Santillán: A taste of Mexico's ancient chocolate-making tradition

Unscramble the Blue Letters


This is Villa de Tamazulapan del Progreso, a beautiful little village in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca. My village, and the srudorninug 154 villages of the region, have a population of about 400,000 people. For many centuries, our culture has retained its mysticism, rituals and many culinary traditions. And one of those culinary traditions is our special ciotnoecnn with chocolate, dating back 800 years. Our ancient, ioeindungs ctmmeiinous were among the first cultures in the world to use choclotae as a symbol for a siocal uinon.

This image was made between the 13th cutnrey and the early 16th century, and it is part of the “Zouche-Nuttall ceodx.” The codex is composed of 47 painted deer skins, all of which represent the history of the Mixtec region. There are many social dynamics taking pclae in this picture, which spcilaleicfy showcases the marriage between the Mixtec King and Queen. And notice the cup of hot chocolate between them that they are sharing to seal their maaritl bond. This tradition is still alive taody, with chocolate front and center during the most important events of our communities, like births, weddings and even funerals.

Open Cloze


This is Villa de Tamazulapan del Progreso, a beautiful little village in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca. My village, and the ___________ 154 villages of the region, have a population of about 400,000 people. For many centuries, our culture has retained its mysticism, rituals and many culinary traditions. And one of those culinary traditions is our special __________ with chocolate, dating back 800 years. Our ancient, __________ ___________ were among the first cultures in the world to use _________ as a symbol for a ______ _____.

This image was made between the 13th _______ and the early 16th century, and it is part of the “Zouche-Nuttall _____.” The codex is composed of 47 painted deer skins, all of which represent the history of the Mixtec region. There are many social dynamics taking _____ in this picture, which ____________ showcases the marriage between the Mixtec King and Queen. And notice the cup of hot chocolate between them that they are sharing to seal their _______ bond. This tradition is still alive _____, with chocolate front and center during the most important events of our communities, like births, weddings and even funerals.

Solution


  1. specifically
  2. place
  3. century
  4. codex
  5. marital
  6. chocolate
  7. union
  8. indigenous
  9. today
  10. communities
  11. connection
  12. surrounding
  13. social

Original Text


This is Villa de Tamazulapan del Progreso, a beautiful little village in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca. My village, and the surrounding 154 villages of the region, have a population of about 400,000 people. For many centuries, our culture has retained its mysticism, rituals and many culinary traditions. And one of those culinary traditions is our special connection with chocolate, dating back 800 years. Our ancient, indigenous communities were among the first cultures in the world to use chocolate as a symbol for a social union.

This image was made between the 13th century and the early 16th century, and it is part of the “Zouche-Nuttall Codex.” The codex is composed of 47 painted deer skins, all of which represent the history of the Mixtec region. There are many social dynamics taking place in this picture, which specifically showcases the marriage between the Mixtec King and Queen. And notice the cup of hot chocolate between them that they are sharing to seal their marital bond. This tradition is still alive today, with chocolate front and center during the most important events of our communities, like births, weddings and even funerals.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
cocoa beans 4
mixtec region 2
culinary traditions 2
indigenous communities 2
hot chocolate 2
rich history 2
bean species 2


Important Words


  1. alive
  2. ancient
  3. beautiful
  4. births
  5. bond
  6. center
  7. centuries
  8. century
  9. chocolate
  10. codex
  11. communities
  12. composed
  13. connection
  14. culinary
  15. culture
  16. cultures
  17. cup
  18. dating
  19. de
  20. deer
  21. del
  22. dynamics
  23. early
  24. events
  25. front
  26. funerals
  27. history
  28. hot
  29. image
  30. important
  31. indigenous
  32. king
  33. marital
  34. marriage
  35. mixtec
  36. mysticism
  37. notice
  38. oaxaca
  39. painted
  40. part
  41. people
  42. picture
  43. place
  44. population
  45. progreso
  46. queen
  47. region
  48. represent
  49. retained
  50. rituals
  51. seal
  52. sharing
  53. showcases
  54. skins
  55. social
  56. special
  57. specifically
  58. surrounding
  59. symbol
  60. tamazulapan
  61. today
  62. tradition
  63. traditions
  64. union
  65. villa
  66. village
  67. villages
  68. weddings
  69. world
  70. years