Guide to the unique world of Mexican candies

Published July 28, 2024

The history of Mexican candy can be summed up in three words: honey, honey and more honey. In ancient Mexico, the population used honey extensively to create traditional sweets. The Nahua word “necuhtli” means honey, and early Mesoamericans had several types of it, including bee honey (miahua necuhtli), maguey nectar (menecuhtli) and aguamiel (iztac necuhtli) — many of which formed the basis for the first types of Mexican candy.

Honey has been a longstanding food source that added a mild flavor to prepared corn cobs and Mesoamerican preserves. Products made of corn and honey were offered to the gods and consumed during celebratory occasions. In ancient times, the Nahua people celebrated the birth of Huitzilopochtli with idols made of roasted and ground blue corn mixed with dark maguey honey.

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