Christmas Holidays in Mexico

Mexico, the country in the North American continent, is a predominantly Catholic country. All the Christmas activities in the country are centered around the Christmas Day i.e. the birth day of Jesus Christ. Christmas trees and the Santa Claus are not the big draws of the Christmas celebrations in Mexico. Rather, Christmas is celebrated very religiously and in traditional way in Mexico. The celebrations for the big occasion begin much before the Christmas Day. It starts

on December 16 with the beginning of Las Posadas. Parties and candlelight processions on the occasion of Las Posadas, continues for 9 days. The Las Posadas ends with the Christmas Eve.

 

The Christmas Eve in Mexico is known as Noche Buena. On this special day, the birth of the God Jesus Christ is celebrated with wonderful fireworks, blowing of the whistles and ringing of the bells. This is followed by attending the church services and to offer prayers. The church services in Mexico is known as ‘Misa de Gallo’or the Mass of the Rooster. Thereafter, families return back to home for a fabulous Christmas feast. Christmas Eve feast includes dishes like rice, tamales, menudo, chiles rellenos, roast pig or turkey, cider punches and hot fruit.

 

Christmas Eve feast in Mexico

Whatever be your religious identity, you may be interested to take part in the Christmas Eve feast in Mexico.

Fiesta De Noche Buena

Christmas Eve in Mexico is known as Noche Buene. Christmas table for Christmas Eve is set in a traditional manner. Steaming Hot Apple Cider and Chimayo Cocktails must definitely figure in the menu. The main menu include easy-to-serve items which are listed below.

Chiles Rellenos
Menudo or Pozole
Beef Tamales
Chicken Tamales
Tamales de Dulce
Mexican Rice

Chimayo Cocktails-Chilled or Steaming

This is popular fest for Christmas dinner. You can prepare this well in advance

and preserve it for some time. The apple cider is applied to prepare this Mexican cocktail. Apply more apple cider and less tequila to make it less potent. If you want to serve it hot for the occasion of Christmas Eve, take out ice cubes. The ingredients which are required to prepare this Christmas Eve dish are listed below.

24 ice cubes
10 ounces Cuervo Gold tequila
2 tbsp Creme de Cassis
1 cup apple cider
4 tbsp lemon juice
8 apple wedges for garnish

Steaming Hot Apple Cider-Non-alcoholic

This is one quick Christmas Eve dish. It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare this dish. On the Christmas Eve, this dish works as an ideal one for tummy warmer. The ingredients needed to prepare this dish are listed below.

1 ½ quarts apple cider
1 whole cinnamon stick (about 3 inches)
3 whole cloves
3 allspice berries
10 pieces of Orange peel, cut into 1 by 2 inch strips
10 Orange slices

Chiles Rellenos - the authentic Mexican way

It takes more time to prepare this dish. The ingredients required to prepare this dish are listed below.

8 large pasilla (also called ancho chiles in American supermarkets) -or- 8 large Anaheim chiles or Green Chiles
3/4 pound Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced
1/3 cup flour
8 raw eggs, separated
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Herdez Salsa Verde (for a tangy green sauce)
1 cup corn or canola oil

Tamales

This is very easy to prepare. There are many variations of Tamales. The basis ingredients needed to prepare tamales are listed below.
3 cups packaged Masa de Harina for Tamales
2 cups lukewarm broth (from beef)
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup solid vegetable shortening