As you probably already know food is a very big part of the cultures around the world, and for Hispanic cultures this is especially rooted in our cultures and traditions. Today I'll share with you some tidbits of knowledge around the food made for the Mexican holiday 'Dia de los Santos Difuntos' or 'Dia de los muertos' which is celebrated November 2nd.
Let me introduce you to 'Pan de Muerto' which is one of the main dishes made for the shrines used during the celebrations. This sweet bread is placed on the shrines as an offering to the deceased so that they have sustenance as they make their journey into the other world. The form of the bread also matters as the multiple decorations on top have symbolism, to some it represents bones to represent the cycle of life and death, to others it symbolizes the tears shed for our loved ones, and even some believe they symbolize the 4 cardinals points of the universe.
Another dish (tough this is more a candy) are the 'Calaberitas de Azucar' which are skulls made out of sugar, and contrary to the closeness to Halloween these are not meant for trick or treaters, this is another common decoration used for the shrines. While still tradicional they have much less symbolism to these skulls, they are used to represent the old custom of adorning the remains of the people for whom the altars where build. The skulls and bones where engraved with the accolades that the deceased earned in life, but now we decorate skulls to represent this tradition
The shrines that are traditionally built are called 'Altar de Muertos' and many places share different ways to build them with different dishes but I wanted to share with you the most common ones in hopes to spark you intrigue around this tradition