The Mexican Christmas: Recipes and Traditions You Can Recreate in Spain

The Mexican Christmas is a celebration that lasts for weeks. From 16 December with the posadas to 6 January with the Rosca de Reyes, Mexico plunges into a marathon of food, family, carols and piñatas that has no equivalent in any other country. And for Mexicans in Spain, recreating these traditions is a way of keeping alive the connection with home during the most emotional time of the year.

In this guide we tell you the most important Mexican Christmas traditions and how to recreate them in Spain, with recipes adapted to ingredients you can find here. Because the Mexican Christmas is not just food - it is emotion, it is memory, it is belonging.

The Posadas: nine nights of celebration

The posadas are celebrations held from 16 to 24 December, one each night, and they commemorate the journey of Mary and Joseph seeking lodging in Bethlehem. Each night, a group of "pilgrims" goes from house to house singing carols until a family opens the door and welcomes them in. Inside there is hot punch, tamales, buñuelos and, of course, a piñata for the children.

How to recreate it in Spain: Organise a Mexican Christmas dinner with friends (Mexican or not). Make ponche, tamales and buñuelos. If you have children, a piñata is essential - they can be bought online or made with a balloon, paste and coloured paper. The tradition adapts perfectly: what matters is the gathering, the food and the shared joy.

Christmas ponche: the drink of the season

Mexican Christmas ponche is a hot drink made with fruit, sugar cane and spices that is served at the posadas and throughout the Christmas season. It is comforting, aromatic and perfect for the cold nights of the Spanish winter.

Ingredients (for 10-12 glasses):

• 3 litres of water
• 200g of piloncillo (panela) or dark brown sugar
• 4 guavas cut into quarters (in a Latin shop, or 2 pears as a substitute)
• 4 tejocotes (tinned in a Latin shop, or 4 small tart apples as a substitute)
• 100g of prunes
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3-4 sugar canes cut into pieces (Latin shop, or substitute with more piloncillo)
• ½ cup of raisins
• 1 orange cut into slices
• 2 tamarinds (optional, Latin shop)
• A piece of Jamaica (hibiscus flower, Latin shop) for colour and acidity

Preparation (45 minutes):

1. Boil the water with the piloncillo and the cinnamon sticks until it dissolves.
2. Add the tejocotes and the sugar canes. Cook for 15 minutes.
3. Add the guavas, prunes, raisins, orange and jamaica.
4. Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes until the fruit is soft.
5. Serve hot in clay jugs if you have them.

Adult version: Add a generous splash of rum, brandy or tequila to each glass. Ponche con piquete (with alcohol) is the adults' favourite version at the posadas.

In Spain: Piloncillo, guavas, tejocotes and sugar cane are found in Latin shops, especially during the Christmas season. If you cannot find them all, the version with pears, apples and dried fruit is delicious too.

Tamales: the star dish of Christmas

Tamales are corn masa filled with meat in salsa, wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. They are the centrepiece of the Mexican Christmas dinner and of the posadas. Making tamales is a family project: grandmother makes the masa, the aunts make the salsas, the children help to fill and wrap. They are made by the dozen (or by the hundred) because there are always hungry mouths.

Ingredients for the masa (30-40 tamales):

• 1 kg of nixtamalised corn flour (Maseca)
• 250g of lard (or butter as a substitute)
• 1-2 cups of hot chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• Salt to taste
• Dried corn husks (Latin shop, 3-4€ a packet) - soak for 30 min in hot water

Classic fillings:

• Chicken in green salsa: Shredded chicken in tomatillo and chilli salsa.
• Pork in red salsa: Shredded pork in guajillo and ancho chilli salsa.
• Rajas con queso: Strips of green pepper with Oaxaca cheese/mozzarella (vegetarian version).
• Sweet: Masa with sugar and raisins, coloured pink with food colouring.

Summary preparation:

1. Whip the lard until it is fluffy. Mix with the flour, broth, baking powder and salt until you obtain a smooth masa. Test: a little ball should float in water.
2. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of masa over a soaked corn husk.
3. Put 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the centre.
4. Fold the husk to close the tamal. Fold the bottom tip.
5. Place the tamales upright in a steamer. Steam for 1-1.5 hours.
6. They are ready when the masa peels away easily from the husk.

Bacalao a la vizcaína: the Spanish heritage

Ironically, one of the most important dishes of the Mexican Christmas has a Spanish origin: bacalao a la vizcaína. It is desalted cod stewed with tomato, olives, capers, güero chillies and potato. It is served on 24 December (Christmas Eve) as a main course in many families.

In Spain: This dish is extremely easy to make because the ingredients are completely accessible. Desalted cod is found in any fishmonger's. It is one of those rare cases where cooking Mexican in Spain is easier than in Mexico.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of desalted cod (flake into large pieces)
• 1 large tin of crushed tomato
• 1 large onion chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup of pitted green olives
• 3 tablespoons of capers
• 3-4 medium potatoes in cubes
• Olive oil, parsley

Preparation: Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add tomato and cook for 10 min. Add potatoes, olives and capers. Cook for 15 min until the potatoes are tender. Add the cod and cook for 10 min more. Serve with a baguette.

Romeritos: the most Mexican Christmas dish

Romeritos are a quelite (wild plant) cooked in mole with dried-prawn fritters and nopales. It is a dish exclusively for Christmas and Lent that only exists in central Mexico. It is practically impossible to replicate in Spain because fresh romeritos cannot be obtained, but it is important to mention it so you know about this tradition.

Buñuelos: the crispy Christmas dessert

Mexican buñuelos are discs of fried dough, crispy and sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, drizzled with piloncillo syrup. In many Mexican cities they are served on clay plates that diners smash against the floor when they finish - for good luck.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter
• ½ cup of warm milk
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• ½ teaspoon of anise (optional)
• Oil for frying
• Sugar and cinnamon for sprinkling

Preparation: Mix flour, baking powder, egg, butter and milk until you form a smooth dough. Rest for 30 min. Divide into little balls and roll out with a rolling pin to obtain very thin discs (like a large tortilla). Fry in hot oil until golden on both sides. Drain and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Serve with piloncillo syrup (piloncillo dissolved in water with cinnamon).

Rosca de Reyes: the close of the season

On 6 January people eat the Rosca de Reyes, an oval sweet bread decorated with crystallised fruit that hides plastic figurines (representing the Baby Jesus). Whoever finds a figurine in their slice must treat everyone to tamales on 2 February, Candlemas Day. It is a chain of celebration that never ends.

In Spain: The Rosca de Reyes is sold in Latin bakeries during the first week of January. It can also be found in Mexican online shops. Or you can make your own rosca - there are many recipes available on our recipes site.

The Mexican Christmas calendar

• 16-24 Dec: Posadas (ponche, tamales, piñatas every night)
• 24 Dec (Christmas Eve): Family dinner - cod, romeritos, tamales, ponche, turkey
• 25 Dec (Christmas): Reheat the Christmas Eve leftovers (nobody cooks)
• 28 Dec (Day of the Innocents): Pranks (like the Anglo-Saxon April Fools')
• 31 Dec (New Year): Dinner + 12 grapes + lentils for prosperity
• 6 Jan (Three Kings' Day): Rosca de Reyes + presents for the children
• 2 Feb (Candlemas): Tamales - treated by whoever got the figurine from the rosca

The Mexican Christmas is a gastronomic and emotional marathon that lasts almost two months. If you are in Spain, recreating these traditions is the best way to feel Mexico close, even thousands of kilometres away. Visit our recommended Latin shops to get the Mexican Christmas ingredients and start planning your posada.