Día de Candelaria

Today is another important day in Mexican tradition and, as always, it has a lot to do with food :) On Jan 6, El Día de Reyes, everyone (but me - glup glup) shared a Rosca de Reyes, a delicious sweet bread that came to Mexico from Spain. But it is not all that simple with Rosca here... When they are baked, a tiny toy Jesus is hidden in the dough, and the one "lucky" to get it, has the commitment of offering tamales and atole to everyone present at the table, on Feb, 2.. Tamal is a prehispanic calorie-packed dish of crushed corn with an infinite variety of fillings wrapped and cooked in corn leaves. Another famous variety that comes from the state of Oaxaca is basically the same thing but wrapped in banana tree leaves.

Elaboration process is rather complicated and time-consuming, but you can find them sold almost on every corner - it is one of the most common and easily-available snacks, and very cheap too!

Atole is a drink that usually goes with tamales. Its base is corn as well - corn flour, and it can have any taste you want - from plain vanilla to mango.

Those a great to keep you warm on a chilly damp day like today :) ... but still, it's better not to abuse them if you don't want to look like tamal yourself ;)