Day of the Dead- Dia de los Muertos

Although in England, we celebrate All Hallows Eve, I wanted to look at Day of the Dead which is traditionally a Mexican holiday celebrated by many other cultures. The Day of the Dead takes place on the 1^st and 2^nd of November. Yet the celebrations and time to remember the dead is from the 31^st October to the 2^nd of November according to the book Day of The Dead by Tony Johnston. It is arguably also a Catholic tradition as it is celebrated on All Saints Day and All Soul’s Day. In the picture book I bought called Day of The Dead by Tony Johnston and Jeanette Winter there are lots of wonderful pictures about the lead up to the festival. The women have been given the role to cook the empanadas, the bread of the dead and the tamales. The men are also given an active role outside of the home. The men pick oranges, cut sugar canes and collect food parcels from the bakery. To those that have no prior knowledge of this festival this book illustrates the traditions embarked by Mexican families extremely well.

Here is a picture of a graveyard  from Day of The Dead

To mark the day, families take the favourite food of the deceased, flowers, and some of their belongings to the graveyards. Families also make altars dedicated to the dead, which are made from sugar skulls, marigolds, and the deceased’s favourite food and beverages. What interested me the most, were the Calaveras de azucar; literally translated as "sugar skulls". Personally, I view skulls as something incredibly sinister. For example in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, when Hamlet talks to Yorick’s skull “Alas , poor Yorick! I knew him” (V: I: 166)” the audience perceive it as a sign of how far Hamlet has fallen, as well as a premonition of what to come- death. Yet in Mexico, these skulls are edible treats and viewed as decoration. The sugar skulls are not meant to provoke fear, or anxiety. Instead, they are meant to look happy and vibrant, so to make them look less sinister they are decorated with bright icing and glitter.

Other items of food that is associated with the Day of the Dead is pan de muertos; bread of the dead. I have never actually tried this bread but it is a sweet bread, covered in sugar. The bread is shaped like a bun and tends to have a shape of bones across the top of the bread. The bones at the top of the bread symbolise the bones of dead relatives or loved ones. This bread is eaten either at the altar during the day of the dead celebrations or it can be eaten in the months leading to this day.

Here is a recipe for Day of the Dead Bread: Pan de Muertos:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup margarine 

• 1/4 cup milk 

• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 

• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

• 2 teaspoons anise seed 

• 1/4 cup white sugar 

• 2 eggs, beaten 

• 2 teaspoons orange zest 

• 1/4 cup white sugar 

• 1/4 cup orange juice 

• 1 tablespoon orange zest 

• 2 tablespoons white sugar 

Directions

1.                      Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). 

2.                      In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft. 

3.                      Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. 

4.                      Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size. 

5.                      Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly then brush with glaze. 

6.                      To make glaze: In a small saucepan combine the 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar. 

I hope this year you celebrate Day of the Dead as well as All Hallows Eve. It is is clearly not a morbid occasion but a celebration of those who have died. For those of you who do not wish to visit the graves of relatives who have sadly passed away, you can try making some bread of the dead or making sugar skulls. The moulds to make sugar skulls are available online if you are interested!