Celebrating With Prayers And Food

Today is just an important holiday as yesterday's Halloween.It is known as Dia del Muerta, a day when ancestors and their memories are honored not only with prayers but with food.These delicacies and lovingly made dishes are eaten by living family members.It is a day devoted not just to memories but to family recipes. The holiday is between Halloween and November 2nd.It is solely a Mexican holiday with its roots to indigenous practices, primarily an Aztec festival in honor of the goddess Mictecacihuatl.She ruled over the afterlife and guarded bones.It is meshed with All Saints and All Souls Days, tow holy days firmly observed in the Spanish cultures.Families leave offerings such as sugar skulls and flowers along with specific dishes.These along with the skulls are placed on an altar, constructed especially for the day.Tamales are one of the dishes ,made either savory or sweet.These can either have chicken in a green spicy sauce, like a salsa verde or a pineapple cinnamon jellies.There is also pan de muertos, bones of the dead , which is kind of similar to the Italian osse de more.These are breads baked in the shape of bones and dusted with sugar.There are also pumpkin and amaranth seeds are also ,offered as snacks for the returning spirits.The spirits need spirits themselves , and there is pulque, a liquor made from agave left for them to imbibe. For the living there are the tamales, bread and sugared skulls to share .However other recipes also shine.You can try turkey tamales with a mole Negro or black sauce.The last is made with a variety of chiles, nuts and even bread crumbs. Along with tomatoes and tomatillos.Goat is popular throughout Mexico and it is featured in one Dia de lost Muertos recipe, chile with a chile marinade,It can be made barbacoa style, barbecued in a pit, dug especially for it.The meat is soaked in adobos, a spicy chile infused marinaded and then roasted for six to seven hours..Rice ia always an important part of any Mexican meal and one infused with garlic and onions is served.Fritters drizzled with molasses and Chihuahua cheese are one of the interesting snacks served.Salsa is a must and it is created with a bro chilis and tomatillos.Some families also serve Mexican hot chocolate, zinged and zipped with a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon. Dias Del Los Muertos is a time for remembrance but also for food.Tastes and flavors are a big part of life, carried well to the afterlife.Salty and sweet, fiery and mild, they all go with us.