Christmas festivities come to a peak on Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), as Mexican families look towards a long night of last-minute shopping, traditional religious celebrations, and the lively gatherings that will spill over from Monday, December 24 into the 25th.
Local stores and shops will be staying open late that night to accommodate those still in the market for holiday gifts or grocery items needed to complete the customary cena navideña (Christmas Eve dinner). Churches will fill for the traditional Misa de Gallo, a festive late night mass celebrated to commemorate the birth of the Messiah.
Christmas Eve festivities center around family get-togethers. Some households begin celebrating as soon as the sun is down. Others wait until they come home from church. The fun will continue long into the wee hours as family members sit down together to enjoy a late night feast, exchange gifts and bust piñatas in the patio or street, all to a backdrop of music and general merry-making.
The cena is a special repast customarily served on Christmas Eve. Financial circumstances dictate an economical spread of tamales, pozole or roasted chicken for many Mexican families. However, for those who can afford it, the classic holiday menu is composed of a variety of dishes representative of the country’s unique mestizo cuisine.An outstanding holiday recipe of Spanish origin is bacalao a la vizcaina, a stew of dried cod and potatoes flavored with olive oil, onions, garlic and green olives. Another standard is revoltijo, a spicy concoction made by combining wild greens known as romertitos and tortitas de camaron (dried shrimp fritters) in a rich mole sauce.
Naturally pavo (turkey) – the feasting fowl of the Americas – is the most popular choice for the main course. The bird is usually prepared for Mexican tables with a rich stuffing based on ground meats and sausages rather than the familiar Anglo bread dressing.
Ensalada de nochebuena, a colorful salad platter featuring lettuce, beets, oranges, jicama and peanuts, helps refresh the palate. Favorite holiday treats for Mexican sweet tooths are buñuelos. These paper-thin wheat wafers are fried to a golden cisp and then bathed with sticky syrup or sprinkled with sugar. A variety of domestic or imported wines may be served to accompany a multi-course cena, but the beverage of preference offered before the meal is ponche navideño (Christmas punch), a steaming brew made with native ingredients that usually includes guavas, tejocotes, bits of sugar cane, jamaica flowers, cinnamon sticks, prunes, and pecans.
For many, the happy hubbub will go on until dawn. By contrast, the community should be fairly quiet and subdued on Christmas Day, as working folk take the day off and all-night revelers sleep in late.
Even the ever-busy local housewife expects to enjoy a break from the daily routines, substituting the usual midday comida with el recalenton, the Mexican term for a universal favorite – leftovers.
Ponche navideño
8 quarts water
1 lb tejocotes
3 whole oranges
8 guavas
2 lbs sugar cane
1 lb pitted prunes
3 pears
1 cup raisins
6 oz walnuts, coarsely chopped
3 sticks cinnamon
1/2 cup whole cloves
2 1/2 lb. piloncillo (a raw form of pure cane sugar available at most stores)
Brandy or rum (optional)
To make around 30 servings, bring one quart of water to a boil. Add the tejocotes, lower the heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes until softened. Remove the fruit, peel and cut off the hard ends. Peel the sugar cane and slice it into pieces. Remove the stems and cores from the pears and cut into large chunks. Cut the guavas and prunes in half. Stud the oranges with the whole cloves. Cut the piloncillo into large chunks. In a large pot bring the remaining water to a boil. Add all the fruits and nuts to the pot and bring it back to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for one-half hour, stirring gently now and then. Add the piloncillo and cinnamon. Simmer for another half hour. Remove from heat. Pour into cups, making sure each cup gets some chunks of fruit and nuts. Add rum or brandy to each cup as desired. Serve hot.