Mexico Cooks!

Costumbres de Año Nuevo en México :: New Year's Rituals in Mexico

In Mexico and some other Latin American countries, women wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and wealth in the year to come.  Wearing red underwear indicates a New Year's wish for an exciting love interest!  Whatever the color, be sure your unmentionables for Año Nuevo are newly purchased--recycling a former year's undies won't do the trick!

Superstition or not, many here in Mexico have the custom of many ritos del Año Nuevo (New Year's rituals).  Some rituals include foods, others prescribe certain clothing, and still others warrant attention for their religious interest.

 
As the clock strikes midnight to ring out the old and ring in the New Year, it's common to eat twelve grapes--one at each ding, one at each dong of the bell.  While eating the grapes, you make a personal wish for each one you consume, welcoming the new year that's beginning.  Mexico Cooks! finds that it's helpful to write down the twelve wishes so as not to forget one or choke in the rush to swallow the grapes before the clock finishes striking the hour!


Sweep all the rooms of your house, your front steps, and the street in front of your house to remove all traces of the old year.  Some people put 12 gold coins outside--to be swept into the house after the house is swept clean.  The coins are to invite money and other abundance to come into the home.  Photo courtesy Jeff Trotter.


Eating a tablespoonful of cooked lentils on New Year's Eve is said to bring prosperity and fortune.  You can also give raw lentil as a gift--just a handful--with the same wish for abundance for family and friends.

On a small piece of paper, write down the undesirable habits and customs you'd like to let go of in the New Year that's just starting.  Burn the paper, then follow through with the changes!

Choose three stones that symbolize health, love, and money.  Put them in a place where you will see them every day.

Light candles: blue for peace, yellow for abundance, red for love, green for health, white for spirituality, and orange for intelligence.

Spill clean water on the sidewalk in front of your house as the clock rings in the New Year.  Your house will be purified and all tears will be washed away.

To have money for your needs all year, have some bills in your hand or in your pocket to welcome the arrival of the New Year.  Some people fold up the money and put it in their shoes!

Take your suitcase for a walk.  Legend is that the farther you walk with your suitcase, the farther you'll travel.  Several New Year's Eves ago, Mexico Cooks! and a few friends celebrated by walking our suitcases around the block, and we all traveled far and wide during the new year that followed.

Mexico Cooks! wishes all of you a muy Próspero Año Nuevo--and especially wishes that your red underwear brings you (or keeps you) the love of family, friends, and that special someone.

We'll see you right here throughout 2017--celebrating TEN YEARS of the joy of sharing Mexico' cuisines and cultures with all of you.

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Do You Call It a Manger Scene? A Creche? In Mexico, It's a Nacimiento.

A Christmas tree may be the central focus of your home decoration during this joyous season of the Christian year.  In most parts of Mexico, though, the Christmas tree is a fairly recent import and the primary focus of the holiday is still on the nacimiento (manger scene, creche, or nativity scene).

One of Mexico Cooks!' biggest delights every late November and early December is shopping for Christmas--not hunting for gifts, but rather on the lookout for new items to place in our nacimiento (manger scene).  Truth be told, we have five nacimientos--or maybe six--that come out each Christmas season, but only one of them keeps growing every year.

The tiny figures in this nacimiento are made of clay; the choza (hut) is made of wood.  The shepherds and angels have distinctive faces; no two are alike.  One shepherd carries firewood, another a tray of pan dulce (sweet breads), a third has a little bird in his hands.  The tallest figures measure only three inches high.  According to la leyenda navideña (the Christmas legend), even the animals in the stable bowed down to worship the Niño Dios (Baby Jesus).


The Niño Dios is not usually placed in the pesebre (manger) until the night of December 24.  The Niño Dios for the clay nacimiento above is just over an inch long and is portrayed sleeping on his stomach with his tiny knees drawn up under him, just like a real infant.  This entire nacimiento was made about 35 years ago in Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico.

Mexican households traditionally pass the figures for their nacimientos down through the family; the figures begin to look a little tattered after traveling from great-great-grandparents to several subsequent generations, but no one minds.  In fact, each figure holds loving family memories and is the precious repository of years of 'remember when...?''.  No one cares that the Virgin Mary's gown is chipped around the hem or that St. Joseph is missing an arm; remembering how the years-ago newest baby, now 32 and with a baby of his own, teethed on the Virgin's dress or how a long-deceased visiting aunt's dog bit off St. Joseph's arm is cause for a family's nostalgic laughter.

Nacimiento en vivo (living nativity scene), Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico.  In 13th century Italy, St. Francis of Assisi was the first to be inspired to re-enact the birth of Christ.  The first nacimiento was presented with living creatures: the oxen, the donkey, and the Holy Family.  Even today in hundreds of Mexican communities, you'll see living manger scenes. 

Holy Family, 18th century Italy.  The first nativity figures, made of clay, were created in 15th century Naples and their use spread rapidly throughout Italy and Spain.  In Spain, the early figural groups were called 'Belenes' (Bethlehems). 

A few weeks before Christmas, my tiny nacimiento de plomo (manger scene with lead figures, none over four inches high) comes out of yearlong storage.  The wee village houses are made of cardboard and hand-painted; each has snow on its roof and a little tree in front.  You might well ask what the figures in the photo represent: Sr. San José (St. Joseph, who in Mexico always wears green and gold) leads the donkey carrying la Virgen María (the Virgin Mary) on their trek to Belén (Bethlehem).  We put these figures out earliest and move them a bit closer to Bethlehem every day.  This nacimiento is the one that grows each year; I have added many, many figures to the original few.  This year I expect the total number of figures to rise to well over 200.

Click on this photo from the early years of my nacimiento and you will see that the Holy Family has not yet arrived in Bethlehem; the choza is empty and St. Joseph's staff is just barely visible in the lower right-hand corner.  Click to enlarge the photo to better see the figures in the nacimiento: gamboling sheep, birds of all kinds, shepherds, shepherdesses, St. Charbel, an angel, and Our Lady of Guadalupe are all ready to receive the Niño Dios (Baby Jesus).  Notice the upright red figure at the right, standing in the Spanish moss: that's Satanás (you know), who is always present in a Mexican nacimiento to remind us that although the birth of Jesus offers love and the possibility of redemption to the world, sin and evil are always present.

Detail of the lead figures in my ever-growing nacimiento.  To the left is a well (with doves) and a woman coming to draw water; to the right is an arriero (donkey-herder) giving his stubborn little donkey what-for.  No matter how many figures are included, the central figures in any nacimiento are the Holy Family (St. Joseph, the Virgin Mary, and the Baby Jesus).  In Mexico, those three are collectively known as el misterio (the mystery).

A very small portion of one of the largest nacimientos on display in Mexico City.  It measures more than 700 square meters and includes thousands of figures.  They include everything you can think of and some things that would never occur to you: a butcher shop, a running stream and a waterfall, sleeping peasants, and washerwomen.  A nacimiento can include all of the important stories of the Bible, from Genesis to the Resurrection, as well as figures representing daily life--both today's life in Mexico and life at the time of Jesus's birth.  Photo courtesy El Universal.

Papel roca (hand-painted paper for decorating a nacimiento), a choza (little hut), and two kinds of moss for sale in this booth at the Guadalajara tianguis navideño (Christmas market).  Over the course of years, Mexico Cooks! has purchased figures of a miniature pre-Hispanic loinclothed warrior, a tiny shoemaker working at his bench, a wee man sawing firewood, and a shepherd standing under a tree while holding a lamb. The shepherd's tree looks exactly like a stalk of broccoli and makes me smile each time I look at it. 

Where in Mexico can you buy figures for your nacimiento?  Every city and town has a market where, for about a month between the end of November and the first week in January, a large number of vendors offer items especially for Christmas.  Some larger cities, like Mexico City, Guadalajara, Morelia, and others, offer several tianguis navideños (Christmas markets) where literally thousands of figures of every size are for sale.  A few years ago, we found a tiny figure of the seated Virgin Mary, one breast partially exposed as she nurses the Niño Dios, who lies nestled in her arms.  It's the only one like it that we have ever seen.


This shepherd keeps watch over his cook-fire in the Mexico Cooks! nacimiento.  He's about three inches long from head to toe; the base of the fire is about the same length; the lead props for the pot are about two inches high.


This booth at a tianguis navideño in Guadalajara offers Niños Dios in every possible size, from tiny ones measuring less than three inches long to babies the size of a two-year-old child.  In Mexico City's Centro Histórico, Calle Talavera is an entire street devoted to shops specializing in clothing for your Niño Dios.  The nacimiento is traditionally displayed until February 2 (Candlemas Day), when the Niño Dios is gently taken out of the pesebre in a special ceremony called the levantamiento (raising).  The nacimiento is then carefully stored away until the following December.

The choza (hut) in the Mexico Cooks! nacimiento.  People and animals are waiting for the arrival of the Mary and Joseph, and for the birth of the Christ Child.  Click on any photo for a larger view.  In addition to the original lead figures, we now have indigenous figures found in a Mexico City flea market, antique lead animal figures (the rabbit behind the sleeping lamb, the little brown dog behind the kneeling shepherd), finely detailed santons from a trip to Provence, modern resin figures of every description, and many more.  Two hundred more--and counting!  

Piles of gold and silver glitter cardboard stars of Bethlehem, for sale at the tianguis navideño in southern Mexico City's Mercado Mixcoac.

At another tianguis navideño, an assortment of clay figures for your nacimiento: villagers, chickens, and vendors.  Size and scale don't matter: you'll find crocodiles the size of a soft drink can and elephants no bigger than your little finger.  Both will work equally well in your nacimiento.

Giant flamingos go right along with burritas (little donkeys).  Why not?

Each traditional figure in a nacimiento is symbolic of a particular value.  For example, the choza (the little hut) represents humility and simplicity.  Moss represents humility--it's something that everyone steps on.  The donkey represents the most humble animal in all creation, chosen to carry the pregnant Virgin Mary.  The star of Bethlehem represents renewal and unending light.

Which diablito (little devil) tempts you most, the one with the money bag or the one with the booze?

How many shepherds do you want?  This annual tianguis navideño booth has hundreds, and in sizes ranging from an inch to well over a foot tall.


It wouldn't be a Mexican nacimiento without tortillas! You wouldn't want the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) to go hungry, would you?


A new addition for Navidad 2016: a dear friend knows my nacimiento passion and found these antique turkeys for me.  The bigger one is just 3" from beak to tail.  They'll fit right in with the other 200-plus figures!

This Christmas, Mexico Cooks! wishes you all the blessings of the season.  Whatever your faith, we hope you enjoy this peek at the nacimiento, one of Mexico's lasting traditions.

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Piñatas at Christmas in Mexico? Isn't the Piñata for Birthdays?

Huge piñatas at a Mexico City market.

Among clean ollas de barro (clay pots), plastic receptacles filled with engrudo (flour/water paste), and colorful, neatly stacked rounds of papel de china (tissue paper), Sra. María Dolores Hernández (affectionately known as Doña Lolita) sits on an upturned bucket.  Her birthday is on December 24, and she still lights up--just like a Christmas tree--when she talks about her business and her life.

The last point of the star-shaped piñata is in Doña Lolita's hands, nearly ready to be glued into place. 

"When I was a young woman, raising my family together with my husband, it was hard for us to make a good living here in Morelia.  We had eight children (one has died, but six girls and a boy survive) and we struggled to make ends meet.  My husband was a master mason, but I wanted to help out with the finances.  I knew a woman who made piñatas, and I thought, 'I can do that.'  So I started trying my hand, over 60 years ago."

Doña Lolita adds another layer of newspaper to this piñata in progress.  "You can't put too much newspaper on the pot, because it will take too long to break," she explained.  "And you can't put too little on it, either, because then the first child to hit it will break it.  That's no good, either.  You just have to know how much to use."  Click on the photo to enlarge it and get a good look at the clay pot inside the paper maché.

"The woman who made piñatas wouldn't give away her secrets, so I had to figure everything out for myself.  You should have seen me the first time I tried to make a bird's beak for a parrot-shaped piñata!  A man I knew told me to make it out of chapopote (a kind of tar), so I did.  It hardened all right, but later in the day the weather warmed up and that beak dripped down to here!  What a mess!  I finally figured out how to make the shape out of paper, but I just about broke my head thinking about it!"

The family has cut rounds of papel de china (tissue paper) that wait to be glued onto a piñata.  The black plastic bag holds strips of newspaper used for covering the clay pot to create the shape of the piñata. 

Doña Lolita told me about the different grades of paper used to create different styles of decoration on the piñata, and she explained different kinds of paper-cutting techniques; she's absolutely the expert.  Here, her son-in-law Fernando cuts tissue paper for fringe.  His hands are so fast with the scissors it made my head spin; he can even cut without looking.

"In those days, the kind of clay pots we use for piñatas cost four and a half pesos for a gross--yes, for 144. In the old days, I usually sold about 7,000 piñatas every December, so you can imagine the investment I made just in clay pots.  In the 1960s, I could sell a large piñata for seven pesos.  Now--well, now the pots are much more expensive, so naturally the piñatas cost more, too.  The large ones cost 45 pesos.  This year, I'll sell about 1,000 piñatas just to break during the posadas. " 

Piñatas in various stages of completion hang from every beam in Doña Lolita's tiny workshop.

"When my daughter Mercedes was about eight years old, she wanted to learn to make piñatas.  She'd been watching me do it since she was born.  So I taught her, and I've taught the whole family. Piñatería (making piñatas) is what's kept us going."  Doña Lolita smiled hugely.  "My children have always been extremely hard workers.  There was a girl for each part of making the piñatas.  Every year, we started making piñatas in August and finished at the beginning of January.

This gigantic piñata, still unfinished, measures almost six feet in diameter from point to point. 

"One time, we had so many piñatas to finish that I didn't think we could do it.  So I thought, 'if we work all night long, we can finish them by tomorrow morning.'  Only I couldn't figure out how to keep the children awake to work all night."  She laughed.  "I went to the drugstore and bought pills to stay awake.  I knew I could keep myself awake, but I gave one pill to each of the children.  And in just a little while, I was working and they were sleeping, their heads fell right down into their work!  What!  Those pills didn't work at all!  The next day I went back to the drugstore and asked the pharmacist about it.  'Oh no!  I thought you asked me for pills to make them sleep!' he said."  Doña Lolita laughed again.  "We finished all the piñatas in spite of those pills, but you had better believe me, I never tried anything that foolish again."

Doña Lolita builds piñatas with her son-in-law, Fernando Cedeño Herrera (left), her daughter Mercedes Ayala Hernández, her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren.  A close friend, Oswaldo Gutiérrez López (background), works with the family.  Her grandson Enrique, 19, says he intends to keep the family business going.

Oswaldo Gutiérrez works on this piñata in the doorway of the tiny taller.  Doña Lolita has taught many people the art of creating traditional piñatas, but her family and her loyal customers say she's the best piñatera (piñata maker) in Morelia.

"People come from everywhere to buy my piñatas.  I don't have to take them out to sell; I only sell them here in the taller.  Because they're so beautiful and well-made, all the best people in Morelia--and lots of people from other places--come to seek me out and order piñatas for their parties.  I've taught my family that our work is our pride and our heritage, and my children have all taught their children the same.  That is our legacy, our family tradition."

Fill the piñata with candy like these bags of traditional colación (hard candies especially for Christmas).


A group of Doña Lolita's piñatas, hung up for sale outside her workshop.

But why piñatas, and why in December?  During the early days of the Spanish conquest, the piñata was used as a catechetical tool.  The body of the piñata represented Satan; each of the seven points symbolized the seven capital sins (pride, lust, gluttony, rage, greed, laziness, and envy).  Breaking the piñata equated with the triumph of good over evil, overpowering Satan, overcoming sin, and enjoying the delights of God's creation as they pour out of the piñata.  Doña Lolita's most sought-after piñatas continue the traditional style, but she also creates piñatas shaped like roosters, peacocks, half-watermelons, deer, half moons, and once, an enormous octopus!


What the piñata might contain at Christmas--but fill it with whatever you think the kids will like best!  Candies, small seasonal jícamas, sugar cane, mandarinas (tangerines) and cacahuates (fresh roasted in the shell peanuts, in season now) are all popular.  Photo courtesy Google Images.

Now, for the nine nights from December 16 through December 24, Mexico celebrates las posadas.  Each evening, a re-enactment of the Christmas story brings children dressed as la Virgencita María (ready to give birth to her baby) and her husband Sr. San José (and a street filled with angels, shepherds, and other costumed children) along the road to Bethlehem, searching for a place to stay.  There is no place: Bethlehem's posadas (inns) are filled.  Where will the baby be born!  For the re-enactment, people wait behind closed doors at certain neighborhood houses.  The santos peregrinos (holy pilgrims) knock, first at one door, then another.  At each house, they sing a song, begging lodging for the night.  At each house, the neighbors inside turn them away in song: 'No room here!  Go away!  Bother someone else!'  Watch a lovely video filmed in Michoacán, a traditional small-town posada:   

I hope that one day you are able to participate in this beautiful tradition.

Freshly toasted cacahuates (peanuts) also stuff the piñata.  The wooden box holding the peanuts is actually a measure, as is the oval metal box.

After several houses turn away la Virgen, San José, and their retinue, they finally receive welcome at the last, previously designated house.  After the pilgrims sing their plea for a place to stay, the guests assembled inside sing their welcome,  "Entren santos peregrinos..." (Come in, holy pilgrims...).  The doors are flung open, everyone piles into the house, and a huge party starts.  Traditional foods like ponche navideño (a hot fruit punch), buñuelos (a thin fried wheat dough covered with either sugar or syrup), and tamales (hundreds of tamales!) pour out of the kitchen as revelers sing villancicos (Mexican Christmas carols) and celebrate the coming of the Niño Dios (the Child Jesus).  Finally, all the children line up to put on a blindfold and take swings at a piñata stuffed with candy, seasonal fruits, and peanuts.

This five-pound bag of hard candies shows a blindfolded (but peeking) boy ready to break open the filled piñata.  Luis Gómez, a merchant at Local 290, Mercado Independencia in Morelia, offers these and other bags of piñata candies.

Mandarinas (tangerines) are in season at Christmastime and round out the goodies in many piñatas.

The piñata, stuffed with all it will hold, hangs from a rope during the posada party.  A parent or neighbor swings it back and forth, up and down, as each child takes a turn at breaking it open with a big stick.  Watch these adorable kids whack away at one:

The piñata, lovely though it may be, is purely temporary.  Nevertheless, happy memories of childhood posadas with family and friends last a lifetime.  

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The Many Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe :: Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Imágenes

The actual tilma (cape-like garment made of woven maguey cactus fiber) worn by San Juan Diego in December 1531.  The image is imprinted on the fabric; no science has been able to determine the source of the image.  The framed tilma hangs over the main altar at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Mexico City.

Listen as this group sings La Guadalupana, one of the most popular of Mexico's many traditional songs honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The lyrics tell the story of her apparition to Juan Diego on the now-Mexico City hill called Tepeyac, and also emphasize the honor felt by Mexicans that she appeared here.

The annual feast of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) falls on December 12--in 2016, that's this coming Monday.  Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is Mexico's patron saint, and her image adorns churches and altars, house facades and interiors, taxis, private cars, and buses, bull rings and gambling dens, restaurants and houses of ill repute. The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, la Basílica, is a place of extraordinary vitality and celebration. On major festival days such as the anniversary of the apparition on December 12th, the atmosphere of devotion created by several million pilgrims is truly electrifying.  Yes, several million go to "echarle una visita a la Morenita" (pay a visit to the little brown virgin) during the 24 hours of her feast day.  On ordinary days, Masses are offered nearly every hour to the assembled faithful.

Statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe for sale at the many, many souvenir booths outside the Basílica. Statues range in size from two or three inches tall to life-size.

The enormous Basílica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Mexico City is the second most visited pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere--second only to the Vatican. Its location, on the hill of Tepeyac, was a place of great sanctity long before the arrival of Christianity in the New World. In pre-Hispanic times, Tepeyac had been crowned with a temple dedicated to an earth and fertility goddess called Tonantzin, the Mother of the Gods. Tonantzin was a virgin goddess associated with the moon, like Our Lady of Guadalupe who usurped her shrine.

Our Lady of Guadalupe tattoo.

There's a saying in Mexico: "No todos somos católicos, pero todos somos guadalupanos."  (We may not all be Catholics, but we are all devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe.)

Read the full story of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe here.

Our Lady of Guadalupe surrounded by fresh roasted peanuts, Morelia, Michoacán. November 2009.


Holy water bottles in rainbow colors of plastic, for sale at the booths just outside the Basílica.

Art casket, Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Basílica.


A late 18th or early 19th century tiny painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in its original metal frame.  It measures approximately 2" by 1.5" and is part of Mexico Cooks!' small collection of art related to her.

Modern but primitive folk art depiction of Our Lady of Guadalupe.


This wall art, advertising for a Los Angeles, California kitchen cabinet business, shows Our Lady of Guadalupe embracing Pope John Paul II, who was devoted to her.  This image is reproduced as wall art, advertising, calendars, statues of all sizes, and pictures to hang on the wall. Nearly 15 years after his death, Mexico continues to feel a deep connection to Pope John Paul II.  Photo courtesy OnBeing.org.

Portrait of Monseñor Diego Monroy, rector of the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.  The painting is part of Monseñor Monroy's private collection.

A late 19th/early 20th century tip tray, drilled at the top to hang on a wall.  The tray measures approximately 6" high.


Our Lady of Guadalupe, hand embroidered on silk with pearlized tiny beads, roses, and sequins.  Her face and hands, and the cherub at her feet, are hand-painted celluloid.  This piece was originally the ceremonial capote de paseo (shoulder piece) of a bullfighter's traje de luces (suit of lights).  It is the vestige of an 18th century long cape worn during the bullfighter's promenade into the ring.  When worn, this curved item fit over the bullfighter's left shoulder as a sort of epaulet.  This particular piece was sewn into an inverted cone for display.

In 1810, Padre Miguel Hidalgo carried this banner to lead the struggle for Mexico's independence from Spain.


Our Lady of Guadalupe, lovely image painted on a cement wall in Morelia, Michoacán.

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) is truly the heart and soul of Mexico.  When you visit Mexico City, the Básilica is a must-see.  Let me know when you'll be here and I'll go with you.

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In Mexico, Christmas Food is All About Tamales!

Tamales Oaxaca style, wrapped in banana leaves.  These tamales, prepared in the kitchen at Restaurante Las 15 Letras in Oaxaca, were filled with armadillo meat.  They were absolutely delicious.

When I was a child, my mother would sometimes buy a glass jar (I have conveniently forgotten the brand name) packed with what we called "hot tamales". Wrapped individually in parchment paper, covered in a thin, brackish, tomato-y fluid, these slippery travesties were all I knew of tamales until I moved to Mexico.

The first Christmas season I that I lived in this country, nearly 36 years ago, my neighbor from across the street came to my door to deliver a dozen of her finest home-made tamales,fresh from the tamalera (tamales steamer). I knew enough of Mexican culture to understand that to refuse them would be an irreparable insult, but I also was guilty of what I now know as contempt prior to investigation. I did not want tamales. The memory of those childhood tamales was disgusting. I smiled and thanked her as graciously as I could.

"Pruébalos ya!" she prodded. "Taste them now!" With some hesitation I reached for a plate from the shelf, a fork from the drawer (delay, delay) and unwrapped the steaming corn husk wrapper from a plump tamal she said was filled with pork meat and red chile. One bite and I was an instant convert. My delighted grin told her everything she wanted to know. She went home satisfied, wiping her hands on her apron. I downed two more tamales as soon as she was out of sight. More than 25 years later, I haven't stopped loving them.


A three-compartment tamalera: bottom left, Oaxaca-style tamales wrapped in banana leaves.  Right, central Mexico-style tamales, wrapped in corn husks.

 
The 'official' voice of the ubiquitous Mexico City tamales oaxaqueños vendors. One of these carts visits our street every night at about ten o'clock.

Christmas in Mexico is a time for special festive foods. More tamales than any other food come from the Christmas kitchen. Tamales of pork, beef or chicken with spicy red chile, tamales of rajas con queso (strips of roasted poblano chiles with cheese), and sweet pineapple ones, each with a single raisin pressed into the masa (dough), pour in a steady, steaming torrent from kitchen after kitchen. 

I asked my next door neighbor what she's making for Christmas Eve dinner. "Pues, tamales,que más," she answered. "Well, tamales, what else!" 

I asked the woman who cleans my house. "Pues, tamales, que más!" 

I asked the woman who cuts my hair. "Pues, tamales, que más!"

And my handyman. "What's your wife making to eat for Christmas Eve, Jorge?" 

I bet by now you know what he replied. "Pues,tamales, que más?"

Obviously there are other things eaten on Christmas Eve in Mexico. Some folks feast on bacalao a la vizcaína (dried salt codfish stewed with tomatoes, capers, olives, and potatoes). Some women proudly carry huge clay cazuelas (rustic casserole dishes) of mole poblano con guajolote (turkey in a complex, rich sauce of chiles, toasted spices, and chocolate, thickened with ground tortillas) to their festive table. Some brew enormous ollas (pots) of menudo (tripe and cow's foot soup) or pozole (a hearty soup of prepared corn, chiles, pork meat, and condiments) for their special Christmas Eve meal, traditionally served late on Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), after the Misa de Gallo (Midnight Mass).

As an exceptional treat, we're sharing part of a photo essay by my good friend Rolly Brook.  The photo essay is all about tamales, their ingredients and preparation. Rolly's friend doña Martha cooks a whole pig head for her tamales; many cooks prefer to use maciza—the solid meat from the leg. Either way, the end result is a marvelous Christmas treat.

Doña Martha Prepares Tamales for Christmas 

 
Doña Martha begins to take the meat off the cooked pig head.

Doña Martha mixes the shredded meat from the pig head into the pot of chile colorado (red chile that she prepared earlier in the day).

 
Doña Martha needs a strong arm to beat lard into the prepared corn for the masa.  The lard and ground corn must be beaten together until the mixture is fluffy.

 
Doña Martha's daughter spreads masa (corn dough) on the prepared hojas de maíz (corn husks).

 
Corn husks spread with masa, ready to be filled.

 
Doña Martha fills each masa-spread corn husk with meat and chile colorado.

 
Folding the hojas de maíz is an assembly-line process involving the whole family.

 
Tamales in the tamalera, ready to be steamed.  Steaming takes an hour or so.

The photos only show part of the process of making tamales.  You can access Rolly's entire photo essay on his website.  Rolly graciously allowed Mexico Cooks! the use of his wonderful pictures.  Although Rolly is now having his Christmas tamales in heaven, his website is permanently on line for the benefit of anyone who needs almost any information about life in Mexico.

Can we finish all these tamales at one sitting?  My friends and neighbors prepare hundreds of them with leftovers in mind. Here's how to reheat tamales so they're even better than when they first came out of the steamer.

Recalentados (Reheated Tamales)

Over a medium flame, pre-heat an ungreased comal (griddle) or heavy skillet. Put the tamales to reheat in a single layer, still in their corn husk wrappers. Let them toast, turning them over and over until the corn husks are dark golden brown, nearly black. Just when you think they're going to burn, take them off the heat and peel the husks away. The tamales will be slightly golden, a little crunchy on the edges, and absolutely out of this world delicious.

Provecho!  (Good eating!)

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