Festival for Departed Souls Begins with Food

[SunKat]

Common Food For Altars

So what foods are made?

You want to provide the spirits with things they loved in life, including favorite foods such as moles and tamales, which are normally made for special occasions.

Toys, not-so-spicy foods and candies would be provided on la ofrenda, or separate miniature altars might be made for them with small cups, saucers, and even miniature pan de muerto for souls of children.

Sweet, egg-rich "bread of the dead" (pan de muerto) is one of the constants of Dia de Los Muertos, although it varies regionally.

In some places in Mexico, sugar skulls are treats for children during Dia de Los Muertos, sometimes with names written on them.

Another thing often on the altar are traditional liquors. Alcoholic mescal and pulque, and atole, a corn drink, are pre-European. A glass of water is also essential, because after the journey here, the souls are thirsty and pretty tired. Atole, a thick beverage with nourishing qualities, is still used in remote communities.

Chocolate also often appears, sometimes in drinks, as does pumpkin candy, made from huge green Mexican pumpkins grown expressly for this purpose. In pre-Hispanic times, according to Patricia Quintana in Mexico's Feasts of Life, candied pumpkin was originally sweetened with honey or the sap extracted from the maguey plant.

Dia de los Muertos Recipes

Check out and try your hand at some of the food traditionally served or displayed during the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Recipe: Pan de muerto (bread of the dead)

Recipe: Agua de jamaica (hibiscus flower water)

Recipe: Agua de tamarindo (tamarind water)

Recipe: Horchata (drink)

Recipe: Caramel flan

Recipe: Sopaipillas

Recipe: Calabaza en tacha (candied pumpkin)

Recipe: Blue corn enchiladas

Recipe: Chalupa

Recipe: Chicken in pipian sauce

Recipe: Tinga poblana de pollo (Mexican stew)

Recipe: Posole (white)

Recipe: Posole (red)

Recipe: Mole poblano

Recipe: Creamed corn/cheese tamale filling

Recipe: Sweetened bean tamale filling

Recipe: Shrimp tamale filling

Recipe: Chicken tamale filling

Recipe: Red chile and pork tamale filling

Recipe: Masa (tamale dough) from scratch

Steps to making a tamale

 

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-food.html#ixzz2A5f8...

[Carmen Elsa Irarragorri Wyland]

Yeap, typical Mexican foods, in Mexico, for sure!