Bits and Bites

If you look closely you'll see two silver trays filled with Chicharron. This colourful tienda also sells a variety of pickled items such as onions, chiles, and pork skin.
(double click on this image and it will get larger)









What follows is a description of some of the more “interesting” foods that we’ve found here, but not necessarily tasted. (Vegetarians beware!)
Chicharron is deep fried pork skin sold in giant slabs or small chunks. The smaller chunks are perfect for snacking on. Very small pieces are also used for garnishing refried beans or soups.
Durros are made with a square of chicharron approximately 20 cm x 15 cm or a potato chip-like "tray" made of wheat, of the same size. It is topped with a mix of tomatoes, lettuce, pickled pork skin, cheese, salsa and sour cream.
We have tasted durros made with the “wheat tray”. What didn’t know at the time is what the pickled pork skin was. We (quite wrongfully) assumed it was a vegetable unknown to us, appearing white and tasting rubbery.
Tortas are a common sandwich sold at Loncherias. They are made with a baguette-style bun, the white, fluffy, bready stuff removed and then filled with cooked meat (often pork) and topped with avocado, salsa and sour cream.
Tacos de tripa are corn tortillas stuffed with tripe and topped with your choice of tomatoes, avocado, salsa, lettuce, tomato etc.
Tacos de cabeza – cabeza translates as head, need I say more?
Chapulines are sold at street vendor stalls during festivals. They are dried grasshoppers, often smoked, and sold by the bag. Crunchy, yummy and a perfect snack. (not that I would know)
Atole is a hot cornstarch drink made with cornstarch, water, sugar, milk, and flavoured with fruit such as guava. It has a smooth, creamy consistency, tastes sweet, and warms you up on cool nights.

Weather Report

Deep Freeze Hits Aguas!

The people of Aguascalientes, México were caught by surprise the other day when unseasonably cool temperatures hit the area. "Usually weather like this doesn't come until sometime in December" said one neighbour of ours earlier today.
This latest cold front has brought temperatures of around 4 degrees at night and daytime highs of only 17 degrees!
Everywhere you look people are wearing winter coats, scarves, hats and mittens. Even the dogs, if their owners are brave enough to venture out, are wearing coats.
Lucinda's school sent home a memo asking that the children wear their track suit gym uniform daily due to the inclement weather. One of the local newspapers reported that outdoor activities at the schools in Aguas have been suspended . Students have been advised that to wear all manner of warm clothing to school and that they will not be penalized for not wearing their official school uniform. Parents are being advised to wrap scarves around their childrens faces.
Of course, coming from the land of extreme weather, we Canucks find all of this trés amusing.

El Señor del Encino

The alter of El Templo del Encino.

Note that El Señor's left arm is longer than his right.

This past week our neighbourhood church, El Templo del Encino, has been celebrating the special days of the year for its patron and centrepiece.
The Jesus figure was made about two hundred and forty years ago from an Encino tree. He’s approximately 3 feet tall and his left arm is said to be steadily growing longer.
So, to honour el Señor, the church bells have been tolling loudly every morning beginning at 7:00. At 11:30 am, 11:45 am, 12:00 noon, 6:30 pm, 6:45 pm and 7:00 pm the bells are rung again and accompanied each time by a series of cuetes. These cuetes are extremely loud firecrackers that are shot out of bazookas from the roof of the church.
All week there have been processions to the church by local businesses and school children. Each group has their own specific day and time for proceeding to the church and attending mass.
The entire garden in front of the church has been turned into a combination carnival/market. There are dozens of stalls selling nuts and fruit, hot dog stands, churros, and other foods. There’s an entire section of trampolines set up, rows of fusball tables and carnival games. And finally, there’s a whole section of rides. And all this in our backyard! Frankly, we’ll be happy to have our relatively quiet, peaceful garden back.
On the actual day of the El Senor, November 13, the parade featuring a replica of el Señor ended just below our balcony at about 10:00 pm. The entire thing culminated with a big display of fireworks and burning of a castillo. The castillo was a large wooden structure suspended above an open area in the garden. It’s various parts were lit on fire, allowing sparks of blue, red, and white to explode into the air while the structure disintegrated. Particularly awesome was the sight of the suspended wooden hearts burning and dripping red sparks, made to look like blood.

More Day of the Dead photos

John and Lucinda hanging out with
one of the skulls at Expo Plaza during
the Calavera Festival.


















Katrina's in the Day of the Dead parade.*
















Sugar or chocolate skull anyone?

One of the stalls at the Guadelupe
market during the Calavera Festival.*














The alter that Angie and Leo
had in their home.
Can you spot the perogies and
slice of pumpkin pie?*












*Thanks to Angie for these three photos.

Dia de los Muertos

Two calaveras on opening night of
Festival de las Calaveras in Expo Plaza


















Posada's Catrina on the left and
his "self portrait"














The Guadalupe cemetary on Dia de los Muertos















Dia de los Muertos is one of México’s most unique holidays. Dia de los Muertos consists of two days, November 1st beingSantos Difuntos (All Saints Day) and November 2nd being the actual Dia de los Muertos (All Souls Day or Day of the Dead). This holiday is all about celebrating, honouring, and remembering the dead. The ways in which this is done are as unique as the country itself. Many families try to adhere to traditional ways of celebrating, but Halloween has begun to intermingle with Day of the Dead thanks to México’s neighbours to the north.
After talking with a number of people and getting a variety of accounts of how the days are celebrated here, I’ll attempt to describe two common ways in which the dead are honoured.
Traditionally alters are created in each home to entice the souls of deceased loved ones to return to earth and visit their ancestral home on the night of November 1st. The idea that the souls of the dead returned to earth orginated (in México) with the Aztecs and likely pre-Aztec civilizations. They believed that life was eternal and that their time on earth was just a short stopover before the much coveted afterlife in la mas alla (the great beyond). After the Spanish conquest Dia de los Muertos was moved from its original date in late July to coincide with the Christian All Saints Day. The Day of the Dead celebrations of today are an amalgamation of Aztec and Christian traditions and ceremonies.
The alters consist of photos of deceased loved ones, brightly-coloured tissue paper cutouts, calaveras dulces (sugar or chocolate skulls), harvest foods like guavas, pumpkins and apples, pan de muerto (bread of the dead: see previous post for photo), water or other beverage that the deceased enjoyed (tequila perhaps), and marigolds which are the traditional flowers of the dead. The alter is also decorated with candles, and a cross is made from sand and marigold petals. Finally the deceased person’s favorite food is prepared and placed on the alter. Recall that the main purpose of the alter is to attract the dead. It is believed that the smell of the food accomplishes this.
Common foods placed on the alter are mole con arroz (mole sauce and rice), tamales, and enchiladas. My friend Angie (from Alberta, but now living here) specially made pumpkin pie so that she could offer a piece to her departed grandmother.
The alter in many cases is prepared several days prior to November 1st and it is believed that during the night of the 1st the souls return to taste the food. In some families the alter foods are eaten the following night though it’s said the foods’ flavour is lacking due to the souls having consumed it.
The second way that the dead are honoured is by visiting their gravesite on November 2nd. For many Mexicans November 2nd is a holiday and entire familes will visit the cemetary to clean the gravesite, decorate it with flowers, and bring offerings of food and drink. They often spend a few solemn hours sitting beside the grave. Although, we when we visited the Guadalupe cemetary we did see a small group of musicinas play lively music.

Here in Aguascalientes there is 10-day long festival to celebrate Dia de los Muertos called Festival de las Calaveras. Calavera refers to skeleton, and though skeletons were used to symbolize death during Aztec times, the modern-day image of the skeleton in México comes from the famous artist/engraver Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913). With his engravings of skeletal figures depicting every day life, Posada poked fun at death as well as providing political commentary for the times. One of his most famous images la Calavera Catrina reminds us all that death is the great equalizer, that it touches us all. The Catrina character is a woman skeleton wearing a long fancy dress and a splendid floral hat.
Posada was born here in Aguascalientes and his images are the key artistic element of the festival indeed of Dia de los Muertos throughout Mexico.
The festival in Aguas consists of a cornucopia of events: everything from musical acts to street theatre and acrobats, to art exposions, a film festival, a parade and fireworks.
Our favorite destination during the festival was the street market near the Guadalupe church. Here we found colourful stalls selling sugar skulls, candies, nuts, Halloween costumes, plastic spiders and other plastic animals, toys, miniature skeletons in costume, marigolds, pan de muerto, tissue paper banners and other decorations. This is a key destination for people needing to stock up on items needed for decorating their alters.
This colourful and exciting festival has exposed us to some of the best of what Méxican culture has to offer. We'll never forget it.