Mexico Cooks!

Day and Night of the Dead in Indigenous Mexico :: Oh Death, Where Is Thy Sting?

Remember me as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you will be,
Prepare for death and follow me.
                   ...from a tombstone

What is death?  We know its first symptoms: the heart stops pumping, breath and brain activity stop. We know death's look and feel: a still, cold body from which the spirit has fled.  The orphan and widow know death's sorrow, the priest knows the liturgy of the departed and the prayers to assuage the pain of those left to mourn. But in most English-speaking countries, death and the living are not friends.  We the living look away from our mortality, we talk of the terminally ill in terms of 'if anything happens', not 'when she dies'.  We hang the crepe, we cover the mirrors, we say the beads, and some of us fling ourselves sobbing upon the carefully disguised casket as it is lowered into the Astroturf-lined grave.

Octavio Paz, Mexico City's Nobel Laureate poet and essayist who died in 1998, is famously quoted as saying, "In New York, Paris, and London, the word death is never mentioned, because it burns the lips."


Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán panteón (cemetery), Mexico Cooks! photo.  These fellows sing to la Descarnada (the fleshless woman) on November 2, 2009.

In Mexico, on the contrary, every day is a dance with death.  Death is a woman who has a numerous affectionate and humorous nicknames: la Huesuda (the bony woman), la Seria (the serious woman), la Novia Fiel (the faithful bride), la Igualadora (the equalizer), la Dientona (the toothy woman), la Pelona (the bald woman), la Patrona (the boss lady), and a hundred more. She's always here, just around the next corner or maybe right over there, behind that pillar.  She waits with patience, until later today or until twelve o'clock next Thursday, or until sometime next year--but when it's your time to go, she's right there, ready to dance away with you at her side. 


November 2013 altar to La Santa Muerte (Holy Death), Sta. Ana Chapirito (near Pátzcuaro), Michoacán. Devotees of this deathly apparition say that her cult has existed since before the Spanish arrived in Mexico.

In Mexico, death is also in the midst of life.  We see our dead, alive as you and me, each November, when we wait at our cemeteries for those who have gone before to come home, if only for a night. That, in a nutshell, is Noche de Muertos: the Night of the Dead.


In the lower center portion of this photograph, you can see the Quiroga, Michoacán, panteón municipal (town cemetery).  Late in the afternoon of November 1, 2013, most townspeople had not yet gone to the cemetery with candles and flowers for their loved ones' graves. Click on any photograph for a larger view.

Over the course of the last 35-plus years, Mexico Cooks! has been to countless Noche de Muertos events, but none as mystical, as magical, or as profoundly spiritual as that of 2013.  Invited to accompany a very small group on a private tour in Michoacán, I looked forward to spending three days enjoying the company of old and new friends. I did all that, plus I came away with an extraordinarily privileged view of life and death.


A magnificent Purépecha ofrenda (in this case, a home altar) in the village of Santa Fe de la Laguna, Michoacán. This detailed and lovely ofrenda was created to the memory of the family's maiden aunt, who died at 74. Because she had never married, even at her advanced age she was considered to be an angelito (little angel)--like an innocent child--and her spirit was called back home to the family on November 1, the day of the angelitos.  Be sure to click on the photo to see the details of the altar. Fruits, breads, incense, salt, flowers, colors, and candles have particular symbolism and are necessary parts of the ofrenda.


Detail of the ofrenda casera (home altar) shown above. Several local people told Mexico Cooks! that the fruit piled on the altar tasted different from fruit from the same source that had not been used for the ofrenda. "Compramos por ejemplo plátanos y pusimos unos en el altar y otros en la cocina para comer. Ya para el día siguiente, los de la cocina tenían sabor normal, pero los del altar no tenían nada de sabor, no supieron a nada," they said.  'We bought bananas, for example, and we put some on the altar and the rest in the kitchen to eat.  The next day, the ones in the kitchen were fine, but the ones from the altar had no taste at all.'


Preparing a family member's ofrenda (altar) in the camposanto in the village of Arócutin, Michoacán. The camposanto--literally, holy ground--is a cemetery contained within the walls of a churchyard.  The beautiful beeswax candles used in this area of Michoacán are hand made in Ihuatzio and Santa Fé de la Laguna.

Come with me along the unlit road that skirts the Lago de Pátzcuaro: Lake Pátzcuaro.  It's chilly and the roadside weeds are damp with rain that fell earlier in the evening, but for the moment the sky has cleared and is filled with stars.  Up the hill on the right and down the slope leading left toward the lake are tiny villages, dark but for the glow of tall candles lit one by one in the cemeteries. Tonight is November 1, the night silent souls wend their way home from Mictlán, the land beyond life.

At the grave: candlelight to illuminate the soul's way, cempazúchitl (deeply orange marigolds) for their distinctive fragrance required to open the path back home, smoldering copal (frankincense) to cleanse the earth and air of any remnants of evil, covered baskets of the deceased's favorite foods.  And a low painted chair, where the living can rest through the night.


Watching through the night.  This tumba (grave) refused to be photographed head-on.  From an oblique angle, the tumba allowed its likeness to be made.


"Oh grave, where is thy victory?  Oh death, where is thy sting?"

Noche de Muertos is not a costume party, although you may see it portrayed as such in the press.  It is not a drunken brawl, although certain towns appear to welcome that sort of blast-of-banda-music reventón (big blow-out). It is not a tourist event, though respectful strangers are certainly welcomed to these cemeteries. Noche de Muertos is a celebration of the spirit's life over the body's death, a festival of remembrance, a solemn passover. Years ago, in an interview published in the New York Times, Mexico Cooks! said, "Noche de Muertos is about mutual nostalgia.  The living remember the dead, and the dead remember the taste of home."


One by one, grave by grave, golden cempazúchitles give shape to rock-bound tombs and long candles give light to what was a dark and lonely place, transforming the cemetery into a glowing garden.  How could a soul resist this setting in its honor?  


"Our hearts remember..." we promise the dead.  Church bells toll slowly throughout the night, calling souls home with their distinctive clamor (death knell).  Come...come home.  Come...come home.


Waiting.  Prayers.  No se me olvido de tí, mi viejo amado. (I haven't forgotten you, my dear old man.)

Next year, come with me.

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Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809 in Morelia, Michoacán :: Happy First Anniversary!

In English, the name of Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809 is, "The Plot of 1809"--plot as in spying, clandestine whispers, sneaking around, closed-door planning, state secrets, heroes, and Mexico's fight for independence.  See the upside-down crown at the base of the restaurant's logo (above)?  It's a clear sign that Spanish rule--the rule of the crown--was about to be overturned by the plotters.  And why is this important to Morelia, Michoacán?  Morelia is where the plotting started--the plot that would eventually bring about Mexico's independence from Spain.  Little clues all over the restaurant's interior let the diner in on the plot.  If you see something unusual while you're dining, ask what it means!  But shhhh...  All photos courtesy La Conspiración unless otherwise noted.


Located in the recently renovated Portal Allende, just behind and with a glorious view of Morelia's beautiful cathedral, La Conspiración offers the diner a choice of under-roof outdoor seating or seating in the elegant indoor rooms.  The owners closely monitor the entire ambience, ensuring that a client's time at the restaurant is quiet, relaxing, and filled with delight.  


In the evening, when you're relaxing at La Conspiración outside under the portales (arches), you can easily see the sky-high towers and the blue dome of the Cathedral--illuminated by soft white lighting, the lovely view will take your breath away.  Photo Mexico Cooks!.

Let's talk just a little about the history of Mexico's independence from Spain--then I promise we'll talk about what's on the menu for you at La Conspiración.


Just a few of the most important conspirators in the fight for Mexico's independence.  At bottom right, wearing a white headscarf, is José María Morelos y Pavón, one of the first conspirators to join the plot.  The city of Morelia, originally named Valladolid, was renamed "Morelia" in 1828, to honor his heroism during the struggle for freedom from the rule of Spain.

In September of 1809, in Valladolid (today known as Morelia), Michoacán, several people, including military man José Mariano Michelena, several other men born in Nueva España of Spanish parents, including a priest and a monk, began a secret movement with the goal of overthrowing the Spanish government of the country we now know as Mexico.  Among other plans, they infiltrated a meeting of indigenous people in case it were necessary to take up arms against the Spanish, even though the preference was a peaceful takeover.

The plot was discovered on December 21, 1809 and the members were imprisoned.  Nevertheless, their influence had spread roots in the states of Querétaro and Guanajuato.  In San Miguel el Grande, Guanajuato, Admiral Ignacio Allende, Father Miguel Hidalgo, and Miguel Domínguez and his wife, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, continued to work to plot the fight for independence from Spain.  On September 15, 1810, Father Hidalgo gave the cry for independence on the steps of the church of Nuestra Señora de Dolores, in what is today the city called Dolores Hidalgo, in Mexico's state of Guanajuato.


Father Hidalgo with the Estandarte de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, the banner with which he led the insurgents during the fight for independence.

In 1821, Spain and "Nueva España" signed the Treaty of Córdoba, ending Spain's rule over Nueva España (now Mexico).


Expect to see your attentive wait staff in elegant vintage-style uniforms at Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809.  No detail has been overlooked: from staff uniforms to bar ware to unique copper bathroom fixtures, you can count on chef Martínez and Sr. González to give you the best.

Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809 opened on October 20, 2017, exactly one year ago today.  Cynthia Martínez Becerril, the owner/chef, and her front-of-the-house partner Roberto González, head the restaurant and form an anchor in Portal Allende.  The restaurant, open every day from 12:00 noon until midnight, offers cozy, quiet dining in a truly elegant setting, a setting where you can go in casual clothing or your best gala dress, where you can enjoy live music (even on the sidewalk) vetted by the owners, and where the food is traditional, or inventive, or bar-style, but inevitably marvelous.  Everything from the courtesy-of-the-house shot glass of spicy, tangy shrimp broth to the over-the-top desserts will delight your palate.


The beautiful bar, fully stocked with just about anything you might like to drink, welcomes you to La Conspiración.


Planning a private dinner party?  Imagine yourself and your guests in this room, surrounded by the luxury of a hand-painted tropical mural.


An appetizer of machitos Michoacán style to share--traditionally made of beef small intestine--served with salsa borracha (literally "drunken" sauce--made with beer) and just-made guacamole.  

Sopa Tarasca, a classic soup from Michoacán's kitchen, is based on a recipe from Morelia's longtime chef, Sra. Livier Ruíz.  It's topped with drizzles of Mexican table cream, fried tortilla strips, and fried black chiles.  This superb version is bean-based, while another equally excellent version is not.  Both versions are traditional to Michoacán.


Cream of roasted garlic soup, served with dehydrated jamón de serrano (thinly sliced crisp Spanish-style ham), crunchy tomato, and a delicious crouton of pan de agua.  



House-made mole with pasta: chef Cynthia's creation, and one that I thought might be an extremely unlikely combination of two worlds.  The truth is, this dish works to satisfy you in a deep way that you'll really love. 


Long-cooked chamorro (pork shank), big and meaty and served in a richly spiced sauce.  Accompanied by steamed rice and refried black beans.  


Ribeye steak, broiled to your taste, with capers and potato wedges, plus a small salad.


Uchepos de nata are Michoacán's fresh corn tamales. These are served with Mexican table cream, queso fresco (a crumbly fresh cheese), and molcajete-made salsa--or if you prefer, a salsa de chile poblano (poblano chile sauce).


For dessert, a basket of house-made peanut marzipan ice cream with fresh seasonal fruits grown in Michoacán, one of Mexico's primary producers of strawberries, blackberries, and red raspberries.


Last but not least, the completely outrageous and exquisitely sinful concha con natas, served with ice cream and English-style custard, and topped with a lacy, decorative, burned tortilla.  If you've had a full meal, you might want to consider sharing this extraordinary delicacy with your dinner companion.  But order it, you won't regret it.  Photo courtesy Mexico Cooks!.  

Provecho!  (Mexico's bon appetit!)


Chef Cynthia Martínez (front, center) and part of the restaurant staff.  Happy anniversary to the whole team at La Conspiración!  May you have a joyous day and many more to come.

Restaurante La Conspiración de 1809
Portal Allende 209
Centro Histórico
Morelia, Michoacán 58000
Cell: 014431580443
Landline: 4436906820 

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Flowers, Food, and Wonderful Signs :: Mexico City's Mercado de Jamaica

The exterior of Mexico City's Mercado de Jamaica.  As is true in most Mexican markets, you'll find everything from fresh figs to duct tape, from a haircut to a great midday meal: in other words, exactly what you're looking for.  However, this particular market specializes in wholesale flowers.  In addition to its hodgepodge of everything under the sun, the vendors here sell literally millions and millions of flowers every single day.  Photo courtesy John Woods.


Nuns buying flowers for their convent.  Approximately 80% of the flowers at the market are grown in the State of Mexico, which is separate from but almost completely surrounds Mexico City.  In the State of Mexico, flower growing generates a yearly economic bounty of $2,700,000,000 pesos: two billion seven hundred million, folks. It's not a typo. 

A few of the literally millions of beautiful blooms available at either wholesale or retail prices at the market.

Freesias, one of my favorite flowers--the scent is irresistible.

Many of Mexico City's markets use this sort of printed sign to advertise the price of what's for sale--in this case, vine-ripened Roma tomatoes--and every sign has a bit of advice to offer about your potential purchase.  I've loved these signs since long before moving to Mexico's capital.  On this market jaunt, the lightbulb went on: all of you would love these typical and sometimes funny signs, too.  This one urges, "Don't think about it too much...take home a little kilo!".

For already-cut-up calabaza de castilla (a hard-shell Mexican squash): 'money well spent'.

For limón criollo (Mexican limes): I'll be right with you!

Limas--and there really is no translation for this uniquely Mexican fruit.  They are neither limes nor lemons, nor are they oranges.  But as the sign says: it's scrumptious!


Pink-fleshed guavas--take the best!  And the orange sign to the left says, "Give Trump a trumpada..." with a papaya!  Loosely translated, it means bop him one with a papaya.  You can also see plastic cups filled with pomegranate arils, whole pomegranates, bananas, clementines, and cantaloupes.

Chile jalapeño: pretty and cheap, at four pesos the quarter kilo (approximately two cents for a half-pound). 

Mexico's papa Alfa--white potatoes for 10 pesos the kilo: smile.

Beautiful crisp cucumbers: ask for more.

In Mexico, if something is super-wonderful, people say "...no tiene madre..." (it has no mother).  In this case, the merchant's sign for the apples says, "...de poca mad...", or "...it has only a little mother...", but just barely skirts accepted language boundaries by cutting the ..."re...", off the madre, leaving you to think of the word by yourself.    


Tomate verde (tomatillo, in English) at six pesos the kilo: 'Don't look any further!'

This merchant is offering his chiles jalapeños at 14 pesos the kilo by poking fun at popular advertising: 'Like you saw on TV'."

Tunas are cactus fruits, and extremely refreshing and delicious.  Their texture is like watermelon.  In this case, the sign reads, Tunas Chingonas--the best translation I can think up is badass cactus fruit!


Here's a peeled tuna.  The fruit is easier to peel than a tangerine; cut off each end, slit the thick skin, and peel it off the fruit.

This sign is my current favorite. "Ni hablar mujer" means 'Lady, don't even talk about it!'.  The phrase is also part of a Pedro Infante song.

Next year, plan to come along with us to this marvelous market.  Ahorita la atiendo!

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Viva México! Viva México! Qué Viva! :: Fiestas Patronales, Independence Day Celebrations in Mexico

Street vendors hawk la bandera nacional (the Mexican flag) in dozens of forms for several weeks during August and right up to September 16, Mexico's Independence Day. It's always fun to see what's the latest in patriotic tchotchkes.  In this photo, you see a vendor near the zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución) in Mexico City.  Photo courtesy Starmedia.

Mexico's official struggle for freedom from Spanish colonization began sometime between midnight and dawn on September 16, 1810, when Father Miguel Hidalgo gave the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) from the parish bell tower in the town known today as Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato.  Mexico celebrates its day of Fiestas Patrias (Patriotic Holidays) on September 16 with parades of school children and military batallions, politicians proclaiming speeches, and general festivity. 


Another flag vendor, this time in Morelia, Michoacán.  All photos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.

Hundreds of books have been written about Mexico's break from Spain, millions of words have been dedicated to exploring the lives of the daring men and women who knew, more than 200 years ago, that the time had come for freedom.  You can read some of the history on the Internet. Another excellent source for Mexican history is The Life and Times of Mexico, by Earl Shorris.  You'll find that book available to order through Amazon.com, on the left-hand side of this page.

But the best-kept secret in Mexico is the Independence Day party.  No, the biggest deal is not on September 16th.  Held every year on the night of September 15, the Gran Noche Mexicana (the Great Mexican Night), the real celebration of the revolutionary events in 1810, is a combination of New Year's Eve, your birthday, and your country's independence festivities.  Wouldn't you really rather hear about the party?  I knew you would!

Jalisco town kiosko (bandstand) decorated for the Fiestas Patrias.

For years I've attended the September 15 celebrations in a variety of towns and cities.  In Mexico City, the country's president leads hundreds of thousands of citizens in late-night celebrations in the zócalo, the enormous square surrounded by government buildings and the Metropolitan Cathedral.  Every Mexican town big enough to have a mayor holds a reenactment of the Grito de Dolores, Hidalgo's cry for independence.  The town square is decorated with flags, bunting, and ribbons.  Cohetes (sky rockets) flare and bang.  Sometime around eleven o'clock at night, the folks, assembled in the town plaza since nine or so, are restless for the celebration to begin.  The mayor's secretary peeks out from the doorway of the government offices, the folkloric dancers file off the stage in the plaza, the band tunes up for the Himno Nacional (the national anthem), the crowd waves its flags and hushes its jostling.  The mayor steps out onto the balcony of the government building or onto the stage built just outside the building's front door to lead the singing of the Himno's emotional verses. 


The bandera monumental and celebratory fireworks in front of Mexico's Palacio Nacional, the zócalo, Mexico City, September 15, 2015. Photo courtesy press.

Dressed in his finest and backed up by a military or police guard, the mayor clears his throat and loudly begins an Independence Day proclamation.  He pulls a heavy rope to ring the Independence bell, then he waves a huge Mexican flag.  Back and forth, back and forth!  In every Mexican town, the proclamation ends with Hidalgo's 205-year-old exhortations: "Long live religion!  Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe! Long live the Americas and death to the corrupt government!  Viva México!  Qué viva!"

Father Hidalgo's 1810 banner.  He carried this banner as his standard as a leader in the fight for Mexico's independence from Spain. Photo courtesy Pinterest.

The mayor and the crowd shout as one voice: "Viva México!  Qué viva!  Qué viva!"  The mayor grins and waves as the fireworks begin, bursting huge green, white, and red chrysanthemums over the heads of the attendees.

Later there will be dancing and more music, and food, including traditional pozole, tostadas, mezcal, tequila and beer, and, in larger towns and cities, all-night revelry in the plaza, in private homes, and in hotels, restaurants, and events halls.

A number of years ago my friend, música ranchera singer Lupita Jiménez from Guadalajara, invited me to a Gran Noche Mexicana where she was performing.  The event was scheduled to start at 9:30, but Mexican custom normally dictates late arrival.  By ten o'clock I was on my way to the party.  At the salón de eventos (events hall), the parking lot was already full, but a man was parking cars on the street just a block away.  As I left my car, he said, "Could you pay me now for watching your car?  It's 20 pesos.  I'll be leaving a little early, probably before the event is over." 

"How long will you be here?" I asked, a bit anxious about leaving the car alone on this night of prodigious revelry.

Lupita Jiménez in performance at a Gran Noche Mexicana in Guadalajara.

"Till six o'clock."  My jaw dropped and I handed him the 20 pesos.  Six in the morning!  Surely we wouldn't party quite so long as that! 

The sad truth is that I didn't.  I couldn't.  My stamina flagged at about 3:00 AM, after dinner had been served at 10:30, a city politician had proclaimed the Grito, the Himno Nacional had been sung, and big noisy fireworks had been set off on the indoor stage (I swear to you, indoors) of the salón de eventos.  Then the show started, a brief recapitulation in song and dance of Mexican history, starting with concheros (loincloth-and-feather-clad Aztec dancers) whirling around a belching volcano, and ending with the glorious jarabe tapatía--the Guadalajara regional dance that most speakers of English know as the Mexican hat dance.

After innumerable trios, duets, and solo singers, the show paused for intermission at close to two in the morning.  Several of my table-mates slipped away, but I thought I could make it to the end.  The first half of the Gran Noche Mexicana had been invigorating and exciting and I loved it.  During intermission, a wonderful Mexican comedian poked fun at politics, functionaries, and Mexican life in general.  We were all roaring with laughter.  When the comic left the stage, I realized that I was exhausted and needed to go home to bed.  Just as the performers stepped onto the stage to begin the next round of song, I sneaked away. 

When I called Lupita the next afternoon to congratulate her on the success of the event, she asked if I'd stayed for the last few costume changes.  "Mija, I had to go home early.  I lasted till three, but then I just couldn't stay awake.  I'm so sorry I missed the end." 

Lupita laughed.  "I'm glad you lasted that long, but next time you have to stay for the whole night!  You missed the best part!"

The Palacio Nacional (national office building, including the president's offices) on the Zócalo (Plaza de la Constitución) in Mexico City, all dressed up for the Fiestas Patrias.

Viva México!  Qué viva!

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Chiles en Nogada at Restaurante Azul Histórico :: El Rey de los Chiles (the King of Chiles)

Azul Histórico, a star of the constellation of three restaurants that make up Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's Grupo Azul, has become one of Mexico Cooks!' favorite destinations for comida (Mexico's midday main meal).  Nestled under a canopy of trees in the patio of a 17th century Mexican palace, the restaurant is among the most beautiful--and most delicious--in Mexico's capital city.

We recently insisted that a dear friend visiting from Texas accompany us to experience the once-a-year delight of chiles en nogada, stuffed with a special picadillo (meat, fruit, and vegetable hash) and then bathed with walnut sauce, as presented and served at Restaurante Azul Histórico.  In last week's Mexico Cooks! article, we shared a terrific recipe for chiles en nogada with you. Today, we'll see the chiles, considered to be the king of Mexico's cuisine, and honored as such at table in the restaurant.


Our friend, who serves sopa de tortilla (tortilla soup) in his own restaurant, wanted to try the version served at Azul Histórico.


Four of us shared a small order of mildly spicy, delicious salpicón de venado (venison, cooked, seasoned with onion, pepper, vinegar, oil, and salt, and shredded).


Once we finished our appetizers, two of our extremely competent wait staff laid the table with a long black linen tablecloth, plus colorful appliquéd individual placemats and extra candles, all in honor of the king of chiles. The plates, also in special use for chiles en nogada, are talavera pottery from the city of Puebla, where chiles en nogada originated.


The serving platter of chiles.  Each color ribbon indicates the type stuffing in each chile.  The choices are:

• red ribbons from Atlixco, Puebla.  The filling is composed of a complex picadillo with quite a lot of fruit. 
• green ribbons from Coxcatlán, Puebla.  The filling is shredded pork, with more spices and less fruit than the first.
• grey ribbons from Puebla de los Ángeles, Puebla.  The filling is beef with fruits and spices, for those who prefer not to eat pork.

I chose the chile from Atlixco, Puebla.  At the Azul restaurants and at most others, the chile is roasted, peeled, and seeded prior to stuffing, but is not coated with a stiffly beaten egg coating. The significance of the colors of the chile en nogada is the vision of the Mexican flag on your plate: green, white, and red. Were it coated and fried, the green would not be visible. The chile's red ribbon (and yellow flower) are removable.  The blue and white sphere with the red ribbon are part of the table decor that honors the chile.

 
Once the chile is on your plate, the waiter serves the nogada (walnut sauce). At the Azul restaurants, the diner may choose savory or sweet nogada, or a combination of the two.  I chose the combination. The waiter poured the thicker nogada salada (savory) onto the half of the chile near the tip; he then poured smooth nogada dulce (sweet) onto the half closer to the stem.  In the photo, you can easily see the dividing line between the two nogadas.


After the waiter bathes the chile with its walnut sauce(s), he garnishes it with seasonal pomegranate seeds and then with a sprig of parsley. Voilà, presenting Su Majestad el Chile en Nogada!


You can see the rich filling inside the chile.  Last week's Mexico Cooks! article gives you an excellent recipe to make your own chiles en nogada.  If you try it, please let us know how delicious it was!

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'Tis The Season :: Chiles en Nogada, Available Now In Mexico's Homes and Restaurants

Beautifully home-prepared chiles en nogada, as presented several years ago at a traditional food exhibition in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán.

Freshly harvested and peeled nuez de castilla (walnuts), an essential for seasonal chiles en nogada.  

Mexico celebrates its independence the entire month of September with parades, parties, and traditional food and drink, served in restaurants and at home.  The traditional festive dish during the weeks just before and after the Independence Day holiday is chiles en nogada, a magnificent tribute to the seasonal availability of a certain kind of peach, the locally grown panochera apple, in-season granadas (pomegranates) and nuez de castilla (freshly harvested walnuts). From mid-July until early October, seasonal local fruits, fresh pomegranates, and newly harvested walnuts make chiles en nogada possible.  Mildly spicy chiles poblano, stuffed with picadillo and topped with richly creamy walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds, flaunt the brilliant green, white and red of the Mexican flag. 


The panochera apple, grown in the Mexican state of Puebla, and pera lechera (milky pear), also grown in the area, are two must-have ingredients for making chiles en nogada in Mexico.  If you live outside Mexico, a small crisp apple and a very crisp pear (Bosque or d'Anjou) would substitute.

This festive dish is traditionally served on September 15 or 16 in honor of Mexico's Independence Day, though it is popular anytime in the late summer and fall. During August and September in the highlands of Mexico, particularly in Mexico City and Puebla, vendors wander tianguis (street markets) and other markets, selling the clean, white meats of nuez de castilla. It is important to use the freshest walnuts possible, as they produce such a creamy, rich sauce that it is worth the effort to buy them peeled or peel them oneself.  Yes, the recipe is time-consuming...but you and your guests will jump up and shout "VIVA!" when they've licked the platters clean. 

Ingredients

For the meat:  

• 2 pounds beef brisket or other stew meat or 1 pound beef and 1 pound pork butt**
• 1 small white onion, quartered 
• 2 large cloves garlic 
• about 1 Tbsp sea salt

 For the picadillo (filling):  

• 4 Tbsp safflower or canola oil
• the shredded meat
• 1/3 cup chopped white onion
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• pinch pimienta gorda (allspice)
• 1/2 plátano macho (plantain), chopped fine
• 1 or 2 chiles serrano, finely minced
• 4 Tbsp chopped fresh walnuts 
• 4 Tbsp slivered blanched almonds
• 2 Tbsp finely diced biznaga (candied cactus, optional)
• 1 fresh pear, peeled and chopped
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped
• 4 ripe peaches, peeled and diced
• 3 Tbsp Mexican pink pine nuts.  Don't substitute white if you aren't able to find pink.  White pine nuts have a bitter aftertaste.
• 3 large, ripe tomatoes, roasted, peeled and chopped
• sea salt to taste

Fully mature chiles poblano, picked fresh and sold on the street in Tehuacán, Puebla. 


Deep green chiles poblano are normally used for chiles en nogada.  These measure as much as seven inches long. If you click on the photo to make it larger, you can see that these chiles have deep, long grooves running down their sides. When I'm buying them, I choose chiles poblano that are as smooth as possible on their flat sides.  The smoothness makes them easier to roast easily.  

For the chiles:

--6 fresh chiles poblanos, roasted, peeled, slit open, and seeded, leaving the stem intact   

 For the nogada (walnut sauce):  

• 1 cup freshly harvested nuez de castilla (walnuts), peeled of all brown membrane** 
• 6 ounces queso de cabra (goat cheese), queso doble crema or standard cream cheese (not fat free) at room temperature 
• 1-1/2 cups crema mexicana or 1-1/4 cups sour cream thinned with milk 
• about 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
• 1 Tbsp sugar   
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup dry sherry (optional)

**Please note that this recipe is correctly made with walnuts, not pecans.  Using pecans will give your sauce a non-traditional flavor and a beige color, rather than pure white.

Remove the arils (seeds) from a pomegranate.  We who live in Mexico are fortunate to find pomegranate seeds ready to use, sold in plastic cups.

For the garnish 

--1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
--1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds 

Preparation:

Cut the meat into large chunks, removing any excess fat. Place the meat into a large Dutch oven with the onion, garlic, and salt. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface. Lower the heat and allow the water to simmer about 45 minutes, until the meat is just tender. Take the pot off the stove and let the meat cool in the broth. Remove the pieces of meat and finely shred them. 


Candied biznaga (aka acitrón) cactus.  Do try to find this ingredient in your local market.  There isn't an adequate substitute, so if you don't find it, leave it out.


Mexican pink pine nuts.  Their taste is sweeter than the standard white ones, and they leave no bitter aftertaste in your dish.  If you can't find these pink pine nuts, it's better not to substitute the white ones.

Warm the oil in a large, heavy skillet and sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat until they turn a pale gold. Stir in the shredded meat and cook for five minutes. Add the cinnamon, pepper, and cloves, then, stir in the raisins and the two tablespoons of chopped walnuts. Add the chopped pear, apple, and finely diced biznaga cactus, and mix well. Add the tomatoes and salt to taste, and continue cooking over medium-high heat until most of the moisture has evaporated. Stir often so that the mixture doesn't stick. Let cool, cover, and set aside. The picadillo may be made and refrigerated a day or two in advance of final preparations.

Roasted chiles poblano, ready to peel, seed, and stuff.  Photo courtesy Delicious Mexican Recipes.

Peel the chiles and make a slit down the side of each chile, just long enough to remove the seeds and veins. Keep the stem end intact. Drain the chiles, cut side down, on paper towels until completely dry. Cover and set aside. The chiles may be prepared a day in advance. 

At least three hours in advance, put the walnuts in a small pan of boiling water. Remove from the heat and let them sit for five minutes. Drain the nuts and, when cool, rub off as much of the dark skin as possible.  Chop the nuts into small pieces. Place the nuts, cream cheese, crema, and salt in a blender and purée thoroughly. Stir in the optional sugar, cinnamon, and sherry until thoroughly combined. Chill for several hours. 

Preheat the oven to 250ºF. When ready to serve, reheat the meat filling and stuff the chiles until they are plump and just barely closed. Put the filled chiles, covered, to warm slightly in the oven. After they are thoroughly heated, place the chiles (cut side down) on a serving platter or on individual plates, cover with the chilled walnut sauce, and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and pomegranate seeds. 


Chile en nogada as served at Restaurante Azul Histórico, Mexico City.


Chile en nogada as served at Restaurante Las Quince Letras, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca.

This dish may be served at room temperature, or it may be served slightly chilled. It is rarely if ever served hot. 

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In Retrospect: The First Annual Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca. AND: Announcing the Dates for 2018!!

Oaxaca hosted its first-ever Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales on April 24-25, 2017.  The festivities included more than 50 traditional home cooks from Oaxaca's eight regions, plus two days of conferences and other activities.  Doña Martina Sánchez is the person shown on the poster; she's making a tlayuda, a very large, thin corn tortilla that will subsequently be topped with any number of ingredients. 


Indescribably delicious empanandas, prepared by doña Martina Sánchez at the Mexico City press conference prior to the Encuentro.  Photos copyright Mexico Cooks! unless otherwise noted.


From 1:00PM until 9:00PM, the cocineras tradicionales (traditional cooks) sold plates and platters and bowls of both well- and little-known dishes to the hordes and throngs of avid attendees.  More than 10,000 people showed up over the course of two days.  The Encuentro was a tremendous success in every respect.  Remember that admission to the Encuentro--including entry to its many conferences---is FREE.


Señora Celia Florián, traditional cook, restaurant owner (Las 15 Letras, Calle Abasolo 300, Centro Histórico, Oaxaca), and one of the principal organizers of the Primer Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca.  My dear friend Celia is a truly great woman, in every sense of the word.

Oaxaca thrilled Mexico Cooks! with an invitation to an April 23-26 hosted press trip to Oaxaca, for the sole purpose of eating, drinking, photographing, and writing about the first Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales in that city.  The event took place during the celebration of the city's 485th anniversary of founding, and what a celebration it was!  The Encuentro, primarily organized by Señora Celia Florián and hosted by Oaxaca's city government and other organizations, the event included more than 50 traditional cooks who set up their cooking fires on the Plaza de la Danza, just in front of Oaxaca's beautiful Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.


La Danza de los Rubios of Santiago Juxtlahuaca, Oaxaca, pounded the stage to open the Encuentro with its fiercely colorful, tremendously flashy rendition of this more than 100-year-old dance.  Normally danced during Carnaval, the bailable (dance) made the first day of the Encuentro into a wonderful festival.  Photo courtesy Daniel Cui, IGERS Mexico.


Just one of a huge number of whole pigs, spit-roasted over firewood at the Encuentro.  This one was almost ready to be served, together with puré de papa (mashed potato), all in the style of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in far-southern Oaxaca.  


My plate, filled with tender, juicy, wood-roasted, mouth-watering carne de cerdo (pork meat), Isthmus-style puré de papa (mashed potato), and delicious sauce. Rosario Cruz Cobos, the cocinera tradicional istmeña who served the crowd, wears the typical clothing of the Tehuana: a woman from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec: hand embroidered velveteen blouse coupled with a colorful skirt and typically white lacy underskirt, gold filigree jewelry, and a ribbon or flower wreath around the head.  Photo courtesy Gaby Vargas.


From left to right: Rufina Mendoza Ruíz, Abigail Mendoza Ruíz, Mexico Cooks!, and Marcelina Mendoza Ruíz.  The Mendoza Ruíz sisters are arguably the best-known cocineras tradicionales in Oaxaca--and probably in all of Mexico.  Indigenous Zapotecas from Teotitlán del Valle, they operate Tlamanalli, their family restaurant.  Abigail Mendoza has literally traveled the world educating people about Mexican and Oaxacan food.  It's a privilege to be a friend of the loving Mendoza family.


Tichindas en caldo de frijol: sweet-water mussels hand-gathered from their muddy flats along the coast of Oaxaca and prepared in a slightly spicy, slightly savory, slightly sweet sauce of smoothly-ground beans that knocked my socks off.  The mussels themselves, shells and all, were just over an inch long. From now on, when I think para chuparse los dedos (finger-lickin' good), this will be the dish in my mind.  I ate this bowl of mussels on the last day of the Encuentro; on the first day, a friend gave me the last tiny bit of a tamal with one of these mussels, still in the shell, wrapped in rich masa (corn dough). The next day, I went looking for those tamales, but they were completely sold out.  This bowl of tichinda soup was my consolation prize, but wow, a prize indeed.


Three members of a fascinating and tender round table conference; one of the topics was "food memories from your childhood".  The Tehuanas (women from the Istmus of Tehuantepec) are (left to right): Sra. Aurora de Toledo, owner of Restaurante Zandunga; Sra. Deyaniro Aquino Pineda, owner of Restaurante La Teca; and Sra. Ofelia Toledo Pineda, owner of Restaurante Yu Ne Nisa.  All three traditional restaurants are located in the city of Oaxaca.

Tejate, one of the iconic drinks of Oaxaca, is made from corn masa, Oaxacan chocolate, canela (Mexican cinnamon), pixtle (the finely ground large brown seed of the mamey fruit), and flor de cacao (also known as rosita). After those ingredients are beaten by hand (see video), water and ice are added.


Mamey fruit for sale at a market in Oaxaca.  The mamey tastes very much like a baked sweet potato. The cut fruits--so beautiful!--have had their single large seeds removed to be sold separately.


At the top of the photo are long sticks of Mexican cinnamon.  In the woven tray is flor de cacao, or rosita. At the bottom are pixtles, the large brown mamey seeds, ready to be ground to a fine powder for tejate.

In this video, the vendor has added cold water and ice to the tejate mixture--it's almost ready to serve.  You can see that the surface of the tejate is foamy and thick, while the liquid she mixes from on high is thin, as it is supposed to be.  Tejate is a delicious and extremely refreshing cold chocolate drink.  When you're in Oaxaca, be sure to try it!


The finished product: freshly made, chilled tejate, ready to be served using the hand-painted jícara floating in it.  We thoroughly enjoyed a cooling, large jícara-full (the jícara is the round fruit of southern Mexico's crescentia crujete tree) at Oaxaca's Mercado Benito Juárez.

For two full days and evenings, thousands of hungry people lined up at this event for Oaxacan regional food specialties that are rarely seen outside the comunidades (small indigenous towns) where they are made.  Oaxaca residents, Mexicans from states near and far, and foreign tourists devoured anything and everything that the cocineras tradicionales prepared; everything I tasted was a thrill.  The Encuentro was enlivened by constant live music and other entertainment, the city was in full fiesta mode for its anniversary, and everyone was excited and happy to be present.  


YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!!  Announcing the dates for the second Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca: April 25-28, 2018, and once again in the Plaza de la Danza, in front of the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Soledad in the city of Oaxaca.  Book your trip as soon as possible!  The event is a do-not-miss.  Not only has the organizing committee added an additional food and conference-filled day to the festivities, but more than 30 additional cocineras tradicionales will be present--85 total!--selling 400 DIFFERENT traditional platillos (dishes).  Every centavo in sales earned by the cocineras belongs to them--eat a lot, so these marvelous home cooks are able to take your pesos home to their pueblos and families!


Eager comensales (diners) pass along one of three sides of the Plaza de la Danza, where the cocineras tradicionales served food.  No admission fee at the Encuentro means that one can purchase more of the very inexpensive dishes that the traditional cooks prepare and serve. Photo courtesy Marichuy Garduño.


Part of the invited Mexico City press group took a culinary tour of Oaxaca's Mercado Benito Juárez.  I'd been there many times before, and nevertheless learned a tremendous amount from our guide.  We're sitting for our portrait at Aguas Frescas Casilda, an institution in Oaxaca.

Over the course of many years, Mexico Cooks! has been invited to countless culinary festivals in Mexico.  The Primer Encuentro de Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca will always stand out in my mind as extraordinary: as the first in Oaxaca and as being entirely exemplary of Oaxaca's marvelous hospitality.  Profound thanks to Celia Florián, to the Oaxaca city government, to the Oaxaca tourism department, to CANIRAC Oaxaca (Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Restaurantes y Alimentos Condimentados--Mexico's national restaurant association), to the cocineras tradicionales, and to all who made this marvelous event possible.  Trabajar en equipo siempre es mejor (it's always better to work as a team) has never been truer.  Three cheers and huge gratitude to all.

The truth is, we ate more in three days than is really conscionable.  Between the traditional food at the Encuentro and our meals at Oaxaca's legendary restaurants, we all but waddled our way through the city.  Do come this year--it's worth every extra pound of weight that you'll take home! 

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Lenten Delicacies from Mexico :: Meatless Meals Are Traditional Treasures During Cuaresma (Lent)

Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, will be February 14, 2018.  The following article has been very popular as a meatless meal reference since it was first published on Mexico Cooks! in 2009.  So many people want to know what we eat in Mexico when we're not eating meat!  Enjoy...and buen provecho!

Tortitas de papa (potato croquettes, left) and frijoles negros (black beans, right) from the south of Mexico are ideal for a Lenten meal.

Many Mexican Catholics mark la Cuaresma (Lent), the 40-day (excluding Sundays) penitential season that precedes Easter, with special prayers, vigils, and with extraordinary meatless meals cooked only on Ash Wednesday and on the Fridays of Lent.  Many Mexican dishes--seafood, vegetable, and egg--are normally prepared without meat, but some other meatless dishes are particular to Lent. Known as comida cuaresmeña, many of these delicious Lenten foods are little-known outside Mexico and some other parts of Latin America.

Many observant Catholics believe that the personal reflection and meditation demanded by Lenten practices are more fruitful if the individual refrains from heavy food indulgence and makes a promise to abstain from other common habits such as eating candy, smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol. 

Atole de grano, a Michoacán specialty made of tender corn and licorice-scented wild anisillo, is a perfect cena (supper) for Lenten Fridays.

Miércoles de Ceniza (Ash Wednesday), February 14, marks the beginning of Lent in 2018.  Shortly before Ash Wednesday, certain food specialties began to appear in local markets. Vendors are currently offering large dried shrimp for caldos (broths) and tortitas (croquettes), perfect heads of cauliflower for tortitas de coliflor (cauliflower croquettes), seasonal romeritos, and thick, dried slices of bolillo (small loaves of dense white bread) for capirotada (a kind of bread pudding).

This common Lenten preparation is romeritos en mole.  Romeritos, a mildly acidic green vegetable, is in season at this time of year.  Although it looks quite a bit like rosemary, its taste is more like verdolagas (purslane).

You'll usually see tortitas de camarón (dried shrimp croquettes) paired for a Friday comida (midday meal) with romeritos en mole, although they are sometimes bathed in a caldillo de jitomate (tomato broth) and served with sliced nopalitos (cactus paddles).

During Lent, the price of fish and seafood in Mexico goes sky-high due to the huge seasonal demand for meatless meals.  These beautiful huachinango (red snapper) come from Mexico's Pacific coast.


Tortita de calabacita (little squash fritter) from the sorely missed Restaurante Los Comensales in Morelia, Michoacán.  Mexico Cooks! featured the restaurant (the name means 'The Diners') in October 2009.  Less than a year after our interview with her, the elderly Señora Catalina Aguirre Camacho, the owner of Los Comensales since 1980, became increasingly incapacitated to continue to operate her wonderful restaurant.  This dish is wonderful for a Lenten supper.

Chef Martín Rafael Mendizabal of La Trucha Alegre in Zitácuaro, Michoacán, prepared trucha deshuesada con agridulce de guayaba (boned trout with guava sweet and sour sauce) for the V Encuentro de Cocina Tradicional de Michoacán held in Morelia in December 2008.  The dish would be ideal for an elegant Lenten dinner.

Capirotada (Lenten bread pudding) is almost unknown outside Mexico.  Simple to prepare and absolutely delicious, it's hard to eat it sparingly if you're trying to keep a Lenten abstinence! 

Every family makes a slightly different version of capirotada: a pinch more of this, leave out that, add such-and-such.  Mexico Cooks! prefers to leave out the apricots and add dried pineapple instead.  Make it once and then tweak the recipe to your preference--but please do stick with traditional ingredients.

CAPIROTADA

Ingredients

*4 bollilos, in 1" thick slices (small loaves of dense white bread)
5 stale tortillas
150 grams pecans
50 grams prunes
100 grams raisins
200 grams peanuts
100 grams dried apricots (or dried pineapple)
1 large apple, peeled and sliced thin
100 grams grated Cotija cheese
Peel of one orange, two uses
**3 large cones piloncillo (Mexican raw brown sugar)
Four 3" pieces of Mexican stick cinnamon
2 cloves
Butter
Salt

*If you don't have bolillo, substitute slices of very dense French bread. 
**If you don't have piloncillo, substitute 1/2 cup tightly packed brown sugar.

A large metal or clay baking dish.


Piloncillo--cones in two sizes of Mexican raw brown sugar.  The recipe calls for three of the larger cones.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

Toast the bread and spread with butter.  Slightly overlap the tortillas in the bottom and along the sides of the baking dish to make a base for the capirotada.  Prepare a thin syrup by boiling the piloncillo in 2 1/2 cups of water with a few shreds of cinnamon sticks, 2/3 of the orange peel, the cloves, and a pinch of salt.  Boil until the liquid mixture is very slightly thickened.

Place the layers of bread rounds in the baking dish so as to allow for their expansion as the capirotada cooks.  Lay down a layer of bread, then a layer of nuts, prunes, raisins, peanuts and apricots or pineapple.  Continue until all the bread is layered with the rest.  For the final layer, sprinkle the capirotada with the grated Cotija cheese and the remaining third of the orange peel (grated).  Add the syrup, moistening all the layers little by little.  Reserve a portion of the syrup to add to the capirotada in case it becomes dry during baking.

Bake uncovered until the capirotada is golden brown and the syrup is absorbed.  The bread will expand as it absorbs the syrup.  Remember to add the rest of the syrup if the top of the capirotada looks dry.

Cool the capirotada at room temperature.  Do not cover until it is cool; even then, leave the top ajar.

Try very hard not to eat the entire pan of capirotada at one sitting!

A positive thought for the beginning of Lent: give up discouragement, be an optimist.

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Three Traveling Kings, Tamales, and Traditions: The *Rest* of Christmas in Mexico

Most Mexicans eat traditional rosca de reyes (Three Kings' Bread) on January 6, the Feast of the Three Kings.  Its usual accompaniment is chocolate caliente (hot chocolate).  The rosca in the photo is normal size for a family--about 18" long.


This is the rosca monumental--humongous rosca--as served in Mexico City's Plaza de la Constitución (better known as the Zócalo).  For the 2018 celebration, the rosca will contain 7,720 kilos of wheat flour, 2,000 kilos of sugar, 52,200 eggs (!), over 3,000 kilos of butter, 253 kilos of yeast, and all the rest of the ingredients necessary to accomplish a baking feat of this magnitude.  Over 2,000 bakers and other personnel will participate in its preparation.  Miguel Ángel Mancera, Mexico City's head of government, will once again preside over its slicing and serving--portions enough for approximately 250,000 hungry people.

One of the many Three Kings traditions in Mexico City is having one's photograph made with them, either just before or on their feast day.  The photo above, taken at least 15 years ago in the city's Parque Alameda Sur, includes the Kings, some real live lambs, and (left to right), my friends Claire and Fabiola, and me.

The Día de los Reyes Magos (the Feast of the Three Kings) falls on January 6 each year.  You might know the Christian feast day as Epiphany or as Little Christmas.  The festivities celebrate the arrival of the Three Kings at Bethlehem to visit the newborn Baby Jesus.  In some cultures, children receive gifts not on Christmas, but on the Feast of the Three Kings--and the Kings are the gift-givers, commemorating the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that they presented to the Baby Jesus. Many, many children in Mexico still receive special gifts of toys from the Reyes (Kings) on January 

Typically, Mexican families celebrate the festival with a rosca de reyes (Three Kings' Bread).  The size of the family's rosca varies according to the size of the family, but everybody gets a slice, from the littlest toddler to great-grandpa.  Accompanied by a cup of chocolate caliente (hot chocolate), it's a great winter treat. 


In this photo (click on it to enlarge it for a better view), the Reyes Magos arrive by boat in Cajititlán, Jalisco, where there is a large lake.

My friend, Chef Arturo Camacho Domínguez, recently wrote a bit for me about the significance of the rosca.  He wrote, "The rosca de reyes represents a crown; the colorful fruits simulate the jewels which covered the crowns of the Holy Kings.  The Kings themselves signify peace, love, and happiness.  The Niño Dios hidden in the rosca reminds us of the moment when Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary hid the Baby Jesus in order to save him from King Herod, who wanted to kill him.  The three gifts that the Kings gave to the Niño Dios represent the Kings (gold), God (frankincense), and man (myrrh).

"In Mexico, we consider that an oval or ring shape represents the movement of the sun and that the Niño Dios represents the Child Jesus in his apparition as the Sun God.  Others mention that the circular or oval form of the Rosca de Reyes, which has no beginning and no end, is a representation of the infinity of heaven--which of course is the home of the Niño Dios."  Furthermore, the dried-fruit decoration (figs, ate [similar to fruit leather], and acitrón [candied cactus flesh]) represent the crowns of the Reyes Magos (the Three Wise Men).

The plastic muñequito (little doll) baked into my most recent rosca measured less than 2" tall.  The figures were originally dried habas (fava beans), then were made of porcelain, but now they are generally made of plastic.  See the tooth mark on the head?  Mexico Cooks! is the culprit.  Every rosca de reyes baked in Mexico contains at least one muñequito; larger roscas can hold two, three, or more.  Mexico City's giant rosca normally contains 10,000 of these tiny figures.


Tamaleras (special pots to steam tamales) do extra duty on February 2--the Feast of la Candelaria, when literally millions of tamales are devoured at seasonal parties all over Mexico.

Tradition demands that the person who finds the niño in his or her slice of rosca is required to give a party on February 2, el Día de La Candelaria (Candlemas Day).  The party for La Candelaria calls for tamales, more tamales, and their traditional companion, a rich atole flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, or chocolate.  Several years ago, an old friend, in the throes of a family economic emergency, was a guest at his relatives' Three Kings party.  He bit into the niño buried in his slice of rosca.  Embarrassed that he couldn't shoulder the expense of the following month's Candelaria party, he gulped--literally--and swallowed the niño.

El Día de La Candelaria celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Jewish temple, forty days after his birth.  The traditions of La Candelaria encompass religious rituals of ancient Jews, of pre-hispanic rites indigenous to Mexico, of the Christian evangelization brought to Mexico by the Spanish, and of modern-day Catholicism. 

In Mexico, you'll find a Niño Dios of any size for your home nacimiento (Nativity scene).  Traditionally, the Niño Dios is passed down, along with his wardrobe of special clothing, from generation to generation in a single family.

The presentation of the child Jesus to the church is enormously important in Mexican Catholic life. February 2 marks the official end of the Christmas season, the day to put away the last of the holiday decorations.  On February 2, the figure of Jesus is gently lifted from the home nacimiento (manger scene, or creche), dressed in new clothing, carried to the church, where he receives blessings and prayers.  He  is then carried home and rocked to sleep with tender lullabies, and carefully put away until the following year. 

Each family dresses its Niño Dios according to its personal beliefs and traditions.  Some figures are dressed in clothing representing a Catholic saint particularly venerated in a family; others are dressed in the clothing typically worn by the patron saints of different Mexican states.  Some favorites are the Santo Niño de Atocha, venerated especially in Zacatecas; the Niño de Salud (Michoacán), the Santo Niño Doctor (Puebla), and, in Xochimilco (suburban Mexico City), the Niñopa (alternately spelled Niñopan or Niño-Pa).

This Xochimilco arch and the highly decorated street welcome the much-loved Niñopan figure.

The veneration of Xochimilco's beloved Niñopan follows centuries-old traditions.  The figure has a different mayordomo every year; the mayordomo is the person in whose house the baby sleeps every night.  Although the Niñopan (his name is a contraction of the words Niño Padre or Niño Patrón) travels from house to house, visiting his chosen hosts, he always returns to the mayordomo's house to spend the night.  One resident put it this way: "When the day is beautiful and it's really hot, we take him out on the canals.  In his special chalupita (little boat), he floats around all the chinampas (floating islands), wearing his little straw hat so that the heat won't bother him.  Then we take him back to his mayordomo, who dresses our Niñopan in his little pajamas, sings him a lullaby, and puts him to sleep, saying, 'Get in your little bed, it's sleepy time!"  Even though the Niñopan is always put properly to bed, folks in Xochimilco believe that he sneaks out of bed to play with his toys in the wee hours of the night.  

Trajineras (decorated boats) ready to receive tourists line the canals in Xochimilco.

Although he is venerated in many Xochimilco houses during the course of every year, the Niñopan's major feast day is January 6.  The annual celebration takes place in Xochimilco's church of St. Bernard of Sienna.  On the feast of the Candelaria, fireworks, music, and dancers accompany the Niñopan as he processes through the streets of Xochimilco on his way to his presentation in the church.

Gloria in Xochimilco with Niñopa, February, 2008.  Photo courtesy Colibrí.

Blue papel picado (cut paper decoration) floating in the deep-blue Xochimilco sky wishes the Niñopan welcome and wishes all of us Feliz Navidad.

El Día de La Candelaria means a joyful party with lots of tamales, coupled with devotion to the Niño Dios.  For more about a tamalada (tamales-making party), look at this 2007 Mexico Cooks! article.

From the rosca de reyes on January 6 to the tamales on February 2, the old traditions continue in Mexico's 21st Century.

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Have A Happy New Year, Mexican Style!

In Mexico, we throw a "Fin del Año" party--to celebrate the end of the old year, as well as the beginning of the new year.  The photo shows you fireworks behind the Ángel de la Independencia (Angel of Independence) in Mexico City, at the end of 2016.  There are lots of other customs here as well!


In Mexico and other Latin American countries, women wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and wealth in the year to come.  Red underwear indicates a New Year's wish for an exciting love interest!

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

As the clock strikes midnight, 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 grape 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 New Year's earliest hour!

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


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.

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 in 2018!

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