DIA DE REYES

on Jan 7, 2009

January 6th, is the Dia de Reyes, or The Epiphany, in Mexico. Which means that on the 5th of January at night, children take a pair of shoes, and put them under the tree or in the living room in the. It is said, the Three Kings of Orient come during the night and leave children presents, just like they did with baby Jesus. So for Mexicans, this is sort of a way of extending Christmas, and it makes the holidays last longer. This tradition was inherited from Spain, where the day is actually a holiday!

Anyway, also on the night of the 5th we gather round with family and friends and have hot cocoa with this sweet bread called the Rosca de Reyes. The fun part is that it has several hidden small plastic dolls -representing Jesus I guess?- and when you cut your slice, if you get the doll, you are meant to throw a party on the 2nd of February (What? Like you didn't know Mexicans like to party) This way you have something Else to look forward to and get you through the winter.


Picture by Zerethv

For several years I worked for a Big Wholesaler (the one that rhymes with Bosco) in the bakery department and that was by far the most important day in sales. In fact, on my very first day there I came home telling everybody "Guess what? I tried 36 Roscas today!" because we had to do the benchmarking to know our competition. It was fun and... filling.

I could bake one if I wanted to here, but it's not really worth the effort for the two of us. So, today (I know it's the 7th, but I am pretending not to notice) I baked an apple and blackberry crumble instead. It may not have a hidden price, but it makes my flat smell amazing, and my heart feel warm.

Feliz belated Dia de Reyes !

3 comments:

Bethtastic said...

What an awesome Epipany tradition - I'll have to remember that for next year with our family.

It reminds me of the King Cakes that are popular in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. Have you ever heard of those?

Dynamita said...

Beth: I have never heard of those. What are they like?

Anonymous said...

I thought the same thing as Bethtastic. The King Cakes are awesome. And if you get the little baby in your cake, you are lucky? I don't know what the significance of that is, but mmmmm, they are lovely.