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Small Producers In Xochimilco Prepare For The Day Of The Dead In Mexico

Various producers of Cempasuchil Flower, Pan de Muerto, Calaveritas de Azucar, and Pulque de Flor Cempasuchil prepare to sell their products on the eve of the Day of the Dead in Xochimilco in Mexico City. The cempasuchil flower symbolizes the Day of the Dead in Mexico. Thanks to its color and aroma, it is one of the most representative elements of the offerings for the deceased. Its name comes from the Nahuatl Cempohualxochitl, which means ''Flower of twenty petals.'' During the pre-Hispanic era, the Mexicas associate the yellow color of this flower with the sun, therefore, they use it in altars, offerings, and burials dedicated to their dead that lead them to Mictlan, the underworld. As for the Pan de Muerto, according to historical documents and accounts, in ancient Mexico, before the indigenous resistance against the arrival of the Europeans to the country, a kind of bread similar to the tortilla is prepared, made of amaranth, dried and toasted corn, and maguey honey. It is called papalotlaxcalli, which means Butterfly Bread, and has a butterfly stamped on the dough. According to the Duran Codex or History of the Indies of New Spain and the Tierra Firme Islands, it is an offering food for the goddess Cihuapipiltin, who watches over women who die in childbirth; although later it appears in the accounts of the Codex as part of a food offering that is placed on the tzompantli, an altar of skulls in honor of people sacrificed in rituals for the gods. This Mexican sweet bread is placed on altars to honor, remember, and, according to belief, feed deceased relatives who visit homes on the Day of the Dead. Sugar skulls are made of alfenique, which is later changed to chocolate, using a jam originally from Spain, whose handling technique is most likely adopted from the Arab tradition. Alfenique is created from a mixture of cane sugar with egg whites, water, and lemon juice. Traditionally, a skull is decorated. (Photo by ___)

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