Dia de los Muertos

Hey all,

My family is planning on having a Dia de los Muertos celebration and we were wondering specifically about what sorts of foods are typically consumed at such an event. I've spent a fair amount of time in Merida, Mexico, but never around this holiday, so unfortunately I don't have much experience with the traditions.

Do any of you have some insight as to a typical meal that would be prepared for this holiday? In particular I'm looking for Yucatecan traditions, if there are regional differences.

Love,
John

I'm sure there are others, but the only specific food item that I know of is pan de muerto

Best,
Michael

There's also the sugar skulls, calaveras, which look pretty easy to make. I'd also check out the exhibit on this subject at theMexican Fine Arts Museum in Pilsen, which has a sugar skull making demonstration starting the end of this month on Tuesdays and Sundays from 10-4; it's probably a good place to find resources on foods and culture of specific regions.

The food people prepare for Día de los Muertos is typically (from what I've witnessed) the favorite meals of the of the dearly departed whose spirits are being welcomed back for a visit with family. The food is placed at an altar, or special table which will also include photos of the dead family members/friends, personal effects, etc.

In the way of something "special" and maybe universally or regionally prepared in Mexico for the occasion, other than the Pan de Muerto and candy which have already been mentioned, I'm not aware of anything.

Regarding Pan de Muerto, many families have special bread baked for the occasion bearing the family initials or a particular design. The pan can be purchased at Mexican bakeries in the Chicagoland area, and some of the candies also. If you do something special to observe the days make certain to get some marigold flowers, lots of marigolds.

I have about 100 photos uploaded to an online album devoted just to the DoD, including some of DoD altars, maybe a food display or two and lots of photos of the candies.

Mexico: Día de los Muertos
http://travel.webshots.com/album/498584812pZyPVJ

I overlooked your focus on the Yucatan, sorry.

I did a quick google search and found the following, regarding food in at least one part of the Yucatan and it may apply to the region spanning the area between Cancun and Chetumal.

En la celebración del Día de Muertos (o de los Finados, como aquí nuestros abuelos le llamaban) aún se recuerdan los rezos que se decían en esos días significativos para los mexicanos con características o costumbres diferentes, que identifican a los Estados y regiones del País; los rezos que muy temprano se realizaban en casas de los barrios de la ciudad el día 1 de noviembre para los difuntos (niños); al término de esa ceremonia se ofrecía a los asistentes, chocolate, atole, pan casero o criollo (como conocen los chetumaleños al pan de levadura que se horneaba domésticamente), dulces de coco, papaya, yuca, manjar blanco, arroz con leche, caña y tamalitos; el día dedicado a los difuntos mayores los rezos se ofrecían a partir del medio día y era peculiar ver en las casas y rancherías aledañas a esta ciudad reunirse las familias para hacer mucbipollos (o sea, el pan de muerto maya) que cocían debajo de la tierra; algunos repartían tamales o comidas como chirmole, relleno negro, dulces o calabaza melada que también se cocía enterrada; había invitación recíproca entre el vecindario ya que numerosas familias cumplían con esta costumbre.

The link to the page I copied this from: http://www.larevista.com.mx/ed523/textual11.htm

An excellent English-language web resource for the Yucatan is the Merida Insider, which has a very active forum populated by knowledgeable persons. You might want to post the same questons there. Here's a link to the website: http://www.meridainsider.com/ [registration required, no charge].

Hi,

You can get some ideas from the menu at Fonda del Mar.

Regards,

Thanks all, these are great resources! I'd read about the pan de muerto and we used to make the calaveras in grade school, but that was about all I had. Much obliged as always!

(Shouldn't this thread be in Shopping and Cooking?)

The mucbipollo mentioned in the passage above provided by Bill can be seen in this post from the Xni-Pec thread:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=117021#117021

And here's a English language recipe that came up in a google search:

http://www.mombu.com/cuisine/mexican-cu ... 56437.html