PVCC Puma Press: March 2006

The Mexican holiday The Day of The Dead, “El Dia de los Muertos,” is a joyous celebration of family, children and the continuity of life. Originally an Aztec holiday that was celebrated from late July to early August, the date was changed by Spanish priests to coincide with the Catholic holiday All Hallows Eve or “Dia de Todo Santos” which falls on the first two days of November. This was done in an attempt to change the aboriginal celebration to a Christian holiday.

Although the holiday is celebrated in different ways throughout Mexico, it always consists of the belief that the dead return and spend the holiday interacting with their families.

Food is a major element of the celebration. A traditional black molé is among the favorites. Preparing this can take several days, and the recipe is broken down into different parts—with groups of people performing separate tasks and then coming together before the holiday to combine the ingredients.

Although chocolate is used in the recipe, it is curt and in the background—not a sweet, dominant flavor. A special “Pan de Muerto” or Bread of the Dead is also a common dish. It can be simple egg bread or in some areas it is baked in the shape of a skeleton or a skull. There is also a tradition of baking a little plastic skull or skeleton into the bread, and it is considered a sign of good luck for whoever finds it.

The first day of the holiday is called “Día de los Angelitos” or Day of the Little Angels. It is a celebration of children who

have passed into the next world. The seond day, which is the formal Day of the Dead, is for adults who have died. An altar is set up in the home with favorite dishes of those who have died.

Along with pictures and mementos such as diplomas or awards, there will be flowers, religious statues and crosses, liquor, cigarettes, candy, pastries and sugar skulls—all to welcome the dead family members. For the next two days it is believed that the souls of the dead are there with the family.

A picnic is held at the grave. At the picnic, the grave is cleaned up and decorated with large bright flowers and mementos. Once again, the departed’s favorite food, alcohol, pastries and candy are set out in abundance. The family interacts with the departed and tells stories about things he or she did in life. In some traditions, flower petals are spread from the grave to the home showing the departed the way. On the last evening at twilight, children and young adults run through the village banging pots and pans to chase the dead back into the grave.

“Pan de Muerto,” Bread of the Dead

These sweet little breads are served on “Día de los Muertos,” The Day of the Dead.

2 packages active dry yeast

5 tablespoons warm milk

7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

2 cups sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter

12 eggs

1 tablespoon shortening

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Sugar for dusting

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk. Stir, cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Make a mound out of the flour in a mixing bowl and create a well in the center. Place the sugar, butter, yeast, eggs, shortening, cinnamon, vanilla, and milk in the well. Work the mixture into dough and knead it until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If the dough is too soft, work in more flour. Shape the dough into a ball. Rub a little shortening on the outside, flour it lightly, and place in a clean, lightly greased mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place for 2 1/2 hours, or until doubled. Refrigerate overnight.

Pinch off and roll the dough into balls the size of an orange. Then make little strips of dough to look like bones and place on top of each roll. Place the rolls on greased baking sheets and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dust with sugar and bake for 30 minutes or until the bottoms sound hollow when tapped.

“Molé Negro Oaxaqueño,” Oaxacan Black Molé
This famous dish is considered the king of all molés. It is traditionally served on The Day of the Dead. Remember, many hands make light work. So put on a little “Musica Tropical,” ice down a few “Negro Modelos” and do as they do in Mexico. Have a few good friends over and put everybody to work: someone toasting chiles, someone cutting and then cooking the chicken, someone measuring ingredients and so on. Before you know it, you’re having a molé-making fiesta. The ingredients that are foreign to you may be found at Food City.

2 roasting chickens

6 1/2 quarts water

2 “chiles de arbol”

1/2 teaspoon dried, ground thyme

2 whole allspice

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 “chile negros”

5 “chile guajillos”

5 “chile anchos”

5 “chile mullatos”

2 “chipotles”

1/4 cup raw almonds

2 tablespoons raw peanuts, skinned

1 stick canela, about 1 inch long

4 black peppercorns

3 whole cloves

6 tablespoons corn oil, plus some for lightly oiling “comal”

1 tablespoon bacon drippings

1 1/2 tablespoons raisins

1 slice egg bread

1 small ripe plantain, cut into slices

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 tablespoon pecans

5 plum tomatoes, chopped

4 medium tomatillos, chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano

1 medium white onion, quartered

8 cloves garlic

1 avocado leaf

4 1/2 ounces Ibarra chocolate, broken into small pieces

Salt to taste

Cut the chickens into leg, thigh, wing and breast pieces. Remove the skin but save, along with the backs, necks and giblets. In a large stock pot, bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the chicken (including the skin, giblets, necks and backs), “chiles de arbol,” thyme, allspice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 30–45 minutes or until the chicken juice runs clear when pierced. Remove pieces of chicken. Strain the stock spices, skin, giblets, necks and backs.

Meanwhile, cut open all remaining dried chiles, discard stems and veins but set aside the seeds. Toast all the chiles on a dry “comal” or iron frying pan until dark brown, but not until burnt (if the chiles burn they will become bitter). Place all the toasted chiles in a large bowl and cover with 1 1/2 quarts of boiling water. Soak for 20 minutes. Remove the chiles from the water and run them through a blender a few at a time, with just enough of the soaking water to purée them to the consistency of a thin ketchup. (Be careful; hot liquids expand in a blender and can squirt out the top and burn you.) Pour the sauce through a wire sieve into a bowl, working it with the back of a spoon, until only the chile solids are left it the sieve. Discard chile solids. Set sauce aside.

(Note: I like to do this next step outside since it can get smoky and toxic.) On a dry “comal” or iron frying pan, toast the almonds, peanuts, canela, black peppercorns and cloves; be careful not to burn. Set aside. Reduce heat and toast the seeds that you saved from the dried chiles until just blackened; be careful not to burn, and watch out—the smoke is very intense. Remove the “comal” from heat; push the seeds together, light with a match, and allow to burn out. Place the blackened seeds in a cup of cold water and let soak for 10 minutes. While seeds are soaking, lightly oil the “comal” and sauté the onion and garlic until lightly browned. Set aside. Drain the blackened seeds and set aside.

In a deep, heavy iron frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons corn oil and bacon drippings until very hot. Fry the raisins for 1 minute and remove from pan, leaving the oil. Set aside. Fry the slice of bread until brown and remove from pan, leaving the oil. Set aside. In the same pan over medium heat, fry the plantain slices until browned. Set aside. Reduce heat and toast the sesame seeds until they start to turn color. Add the pecans and toast 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder. Set aside. Place the blackened seed, previously set aside, in the spice grinder and grind to a fine meal like powder. Add blackened seed powder to the chile sauce and stir well.

In the frying pan, cook the tomatoes, tomatillos, thyme and oregano until most of the juices evaporate. Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock, stir well and remove from heat. Set aside.

In a blender, purée the almonds, peanuts, canela, black peppercorns, cloves, raisins, bread, plantain, ground sesame seeds and pecans, 2 cups of the chicken stock, and onions and garlic until smooth . Okay, this is the part you’ve waited for. In a large stock pot, heat remaining 3 tablespoons corn oil until very hot. Reduce heat to medium low and fry the chile sauce until almost dry, stirring constantly. Don’t let it burn. Add tomato mixture and fry until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add mixture from blender and 1 cup of chicken stock and stir well. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often.

Toast the avocado leaf and add to the pot along with the chocolate. Keep simmering and adding chicken stock as needed for 30 more minutes. The molé should be thick enough to just coat the back of a spoon. Taste the molé and adjust salt level. In a separate pot, simmer the chicken pieces in remaining chicken stock until hot. Place 1 piece of chicken in a shallow bowl and spoon on enough molé to totally cover. Serve with fresh, hot corn tortillas. Serves 10.