A couple of years ago, I published a post about what Mexican families might eat for Holy Week and Easter. This year, I am sharing some excerpts from that post, with some updates:
The most important holiday in the Christian calendar is Easter, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ; this year, Easter Sunday for Roman Catholic and Protestant churches is today, April 9, with the Orthodox church date being next Sunday (April 16.) Decorating hard-boiled eggs (as shown at the top of this post), and having an egg hunt, were not well-known in Mexico until relatively contemporary times, and I have realized that in Mexico, Easter is observed and celebrated more as part of the Holy Week, not so much as a single day, so special dishes might be cooked before, and leading to, Easter Sunday (Domingo de Pascua, in Spanish). In addition, many families, especially in Mexico City, seek to go to the beach, so they would spend the holidays away from home, simply eating lots of fish and seafood. So this made me contemplate about the question, What do Mexican families eat for Easter? I asked some of my friends and relatives; just a couple of them said they do remember eggs, either decorated hard-boiled, or in chocolate egg hunts, especially in Northern states, such as Nuevo León, close to the American border, as well as Sanborns™ (a restaurant and gift shop chain) selling fancy chocolate and marshmallow eggs during the season. Others mentioned attending processions or native ceremonial dance performances but, in terms of food, maybe just fish being favoured throughout Lent and Holy Week, or nothing special at all. Finally, others gave the following responses (click on highlighted text for my full stories and recipes):
In Central Mexico, especially in Mexico City, it is very traditional to cook Revoltijo (Mexican patties and vegetables in red mole sauce) and Bacalao de Cuaresma (Lent Cod) during Holy week, and continue reheating and eating leftovers, sometimes buried inside a bun, such as in tortas (Mexican sandwiches):
Lime/lemon pie and chongos (a milk-based dessert) were some of the sweet dishes included, with the most frequently mentioned being Capirotada, a bread pudding with cheese, raisins and raw-sugar syrup. Below, my mother’s favourite Capirotada, as styled in the Mexican state of Coahuila:
Many people still give up red meat during Lent, the time leading to Easter, or as I mentioned, they go to the beach during Holy Week, so fish and seafood are the norm. I have shared some nice recipes with fish fillets, such as al mojo de ajo – in garlic sauce (photo below, left), or en chile limón – in chile-lime sauce (photo below, right):
And several recipes for seafood cocktails, such as Sinaloa Style Octopus Cocktail (photo below, left), and a mixed seafood cocktail called Vuelve a la Vida (photo below, right):
And finally, other dishes that might be consumed any time during the year, but could cause an outcry if absent during the Easter season, as declared by some of my friends, were Carnitas (photo below, left, in tacos), huauzontle patties in pasilla sauce (shown below, centre, with tomatillo sauce), and stuffed poblano peppers with caldillo (with cheese and “brothy” tomato sauce, photo below, right):
Do you celebrate Easter or other special holidays during spring time? What special food do you remember as traditional?
Have a Happy Easter Sunday! ¡Feliz Domingo de Pascua!
My Slice of Mexico 