The Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos fiesta is underway in Mexico and the Mexican diaspora. Imbued with many rituals and ceremonies, it’s a fiesta to celebrate life not death, and the lives of long-gone beloved ancestors. For those of us in other parts of the world, it’s as good an excuse as any to celebrate all things Mexican – from Mexican food to Frida and Diego, from the Lucha Libre to Margaritas and mariachis.
Every year during Cambodia’s Pchum Ben ancestors festival, this year held at the end of last month, I find myself thinking about Mexico’s Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos fiesta, and all that the festival have in common – imbued with many rituals and ceremonies, they’re festivals that in essence celebrate life, not death, and commemorate the lives of long-gone loved ones.
That we’ve spent the last 17 years in Asia, Europe and the Middle East never ceases to surprise me, as Latin America, especially Mexico and Cuba, occupied our interests for over a decade before we moved abroad. Mexico was the first country that Terence and I travelled to (via Japan, but only for 24 hours, so does that even count?!) and my second degree was in Latin American studies and Spanish. Yet upon graduating, we moved to the Middle East…
Mexico’s Day of the Dead was the inspiration for our first trip to Mexico and I crafted a six-week itinerary focused on Mexican food, culture, art, archaeology, and everyday life – punctuated by beach time. Not a lot has changed as far as our interests go when travelling. As we can’t get to Mexico right now, I’m using Day of the Dead as an excuse to celebrate all things Mexican.
Day of the Dead in Mexico – A Fiesta to Celebrate Life and Beloved Ancestors
Recognised by UNESCO in 2008 when it was added to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the Day of the Dead has its roots in the pre-Hispanic cultures, for whom the dead lived on in spirit, temporarily returning to earth for Día de los Muertos.
Over time, pre-Hispanic rituals fused with the Catholic feast days of All Saints Day (1 November) and All Souls Day (2 November), which coincided with Mexico’s traditional maize harvest – just as Bon Om Tuk coincides with the rice harvest here in Cambodia.
Mexican Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos
During the Day of the Dead holidays, Mexicans make a beeline for cemeteries where they clean and decorate their ancestors’ tombstones with candles and flowers (mainly marigolds, which are loaded with symbolism, just as they are in Asia) before gathering around the grave for a picnic.
At home, Mexicans make offerings of food, water, candles, and flowers at elaborate altars (ofrenda) dedicated to deceased loved-ones, which they adorn with photos, images of the Virgin, crosses, colourful calaveras (skulls), calacas (skeletons), and banners of pretty papel picado (perforated coloured paper cut-outs).
Traditions and rituals vary from region to region but Mexicans typically hold parties with singing and dancing, and parade in public processions dressed in skeleton costumes, meant to personify death.
The most popular character is that of the Calavera Catrina (‘dapper skeleton’), which evolved from illustrator and print-maker José Guadalupe Posada’s satirical 1910 etching called La Calavera Garbancera of a skeleton wearing the elaborate, broad-brimmed, feathered hat of a European aristocrat.
Mexican artist Diego Rivera included Posada’s skeleton, whom he called Catrina ‘the rich’, in his 1947 mural ‘Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park’, dressing her in an elegant white dress and an even more flamboyant hat.
In recent years, Catrina has become the Day of the Dead’s most iconic character and the trend to dress up as her, complete with intricately decorated face make-up, has swept the world.
While the Day of the Dead rituals, symbolism, and costumes has long captured my imagination, the traditional food and drink of the Day of the Dead holiday has always tantalised my taste buds.
Placed at altars and enjoyed at graveside picnics, food and drinks are intended to sate the appetites of the spirits, who work up an appetite on their long journey back to the land of living, as much as they are to be enjoyed by holiday-makers.
Day of the Dead specialties includes pan de muerto (bread of the dead), a sweet anise-flavoured bread decorated with bones and skulls; banana leaf-wrapped tamales; different types of mole (which we learned to make in a Mexican cooking class in San Miguel de Allende); atole, a warm pudding-like corn-flour beverage flavoured with cane sugar and cinnamon; and pulque, a drink fermented from agave sap.
Then there’s the quintessential Day of the Dead speciality: colourful sugar skulls, embellished with icing, sequins and feathers. Although edible, these aren’t usually eaten.
Celebrating All Things Mexican
Aside from the Day of the Dead holiday, these were some of our other inspirations for travelling to Mexico, the things that I most love about Mexico that would entice me back in a heartbeat, the Mexican things I celebrate.
Mexican Art and Crafts
I returned home from our first trip to Mexico City with a backpack crammed with prints of Frida Kahlo’s vibrant paintings and retro stationery and the colourful handicrafts and folk art of the kind Kahlo amassed in her Coyoacan home, now the Museo Frida Kahlo.
I had striped serapes and woven textiles, wooden crosses covered with Milagros, and Day of the Dead dioramas with miniature skeletal figures. After all, I’d learnt about the Day of the Dead through Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. To learn more about her, I highly recommend this Hayden Herrera book.
When you visit Mexico City, make sure to absorb all the phenomenal art of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and visit the fabulous Museum of Popular Art to absorb vibrant displays of basketry, costumes, paper maché, pottery, ceramics, and the kooky folk art associated with Day of the Dead.
Mexican Food and Drink
What’s not to love about Mexican food and drink? From the breakfasts of spicy eggs, such as huevos con chorizo, huevos rancheros or huevos revueltos con chorizo, which we devoured on every trip at Cafe El Popular in Mexico City, one of our many favourite breakfast spots in the heart of the Old City.
Then there are all the Mexican street food specialties and home-cooked favourites, from tacos al pastor to a traditional sopa de tortilla. We also became big fans of modern Mexican food, from that of Chef Martha Ortiz to the contemporary cuisine of restaurants such as Pujol in the capital. We have eaten very well in Mexico.
And let’s not forget Mexico’s markets, from the fantastic produce at Mexico City’s La Merced markets – from a staggering array of nopales (cactus paddles) to wonderful Oaxacan cheeses – to the ceviche (marinated raw fish/seafood) and cocteles de mariscos (seafood cocktails) at Mercado Coyoacán.
Then there are the drinks: spicy Micheladas, classic Margaritas, Mexican wine, Pulque and Mezcal.
Mexican Popular Culture, Music and Dance
There are few experiences in the world that beat an afternoon spent on the Mexico City Zocalo watching indigenous dancers perform or an evening with the mariachis on Plaza Garibaldi, being serenaded by the talented troubadours.
Perhaps a late night in San Miguel de Allende listening to Benjamin Lara strumming his guitar as he sings songs of love and lament comes close, as does an evening trailing a roving wedding party through the town’s atmospheric streets.
A night with the superhero Mexican wrestlers at Mexico City’s Lucha Libre isn’t something we’ll forget in a hurry either.
Are you a fan of Mexico and all things Mexican? What is it that you love most? And have you been to the Day of the Dead?
