Food for the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (12 December)

What is it?

The food of the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe (12 December) is one of the most participatory gastronomic expressions of the Mexican religious calendar, tied to the festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe (Patron Saint of Mexico) commemorating her appearances to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac in 1531. Throughout the country, especially in Mexico City (Basilica of Guadalupe), Puebla, Jalisco, Michoacan and Veracruz, parishes organise masses, mananitas, pilgrimages and kermesses where red and green tamales, chocolate atole, pozole, mole, Guadalupan enchiladas, tacos de canasta, gorditas, tlacoyos, tostadas, pot coffee, ponche, bunuelos and aguas frescas are served. Pilgrims travelling to the Basilica receive free tamales and atole at Guadalupan stalls. It is a ritual food of faith and community.

Origin and history

Devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe originates with the apparitions of the Virgin to Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin on the hill of Tepeyac in December 1531, a sacred Mexica site where Tonantzin, the mother goddess of fertility, was venerated. The cultural syncretism was profound: the Brown Virgin took on mestizo iconography and became a symbol of national identity. Larousse Cocina and Mexico Desconocido document that the Guadalupan festivities of 12 December have included food and drink offerings since the sixteenth century, fusing pre-Hispanic rituals of Tonantzin with the Catholic celebration. The mass preparation of tamales, atoles and mole for pilgrims was consolidated in the nineteenth century when the Basilica of Tepeyac became one of the most visited sanctuaries of world Catholicism. The Government of Mexico recognises the Guadalupan celebration as a central part of intangible cultural heritage. Traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed by UNESCO in 2010.

Characteristic ingredients

Guadalupan dishes vary by region but share common ingredients linked to Mexican ritual tradition. Tamales are the most universal food: red with pork in guajillo and ancho chilli sauce, green with chicken and tomatillo salsa, of Pueblan or Oaxacan mole, of rajas with cheese, sweet with strawberry or pineapple. They are prepared in huge quantities (dozens or hundreds of dozens) in communal parish kitchens. Chocolate atole (champurrado) is the ritual drink par excellence: maize dough with table chocolate, cinnamon and piloncillo. Red or green pozole, Guadalupan enchiladas (filled with chicken in guajillo chilli sauce), mole with turkey, tacos de canasta, gorditas and tlacoyos make up the menu. Bunuelos with honey, palanquetas, borrachitos, candied peanuts and colaciones round off the sweet menu. In Puebla, Guadalupan cemitas are served; in Jalisco, birria and pozole.

Cultural significance

The Guadalupan festivity of 12 December is the most massive religious celebration of the year in Mexico, with pilgrimages of millions of people to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City (the second most visited Catholic church in the world after the Vatican) and to other Guadalupan basilicas across the country. Parish kermesses bring whole communities together for a week, generating fellowship, devotion and local economy. The preparation of tamales and atole for poor pilgrims is an act of ritual charity: many parishes and civil organisations give away thousands of portions a day. Traditional Mexican cuisine was recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. The Virgin of Guadalupe was declared Patron Saint of Mexico by Leo XIII in 1895 and Patron Saint of the Americas by Pius XII in 1945. Guadalupan gastronomy is an expression of Mexican religious-cultural syncretism and of popular solidarity.

Frequently asked questions

What is traditionally eaten on 12 December in Mexico?

Tamales (red, green, mole, rajas, sweet), chocolate atole (champurrado), red or green pozole, mole with turkey or chicken, Guadalupan enchiladas, tacos de canasta, gorditas, tlacoyos, bunuelos with piloncillo syrup and pot coffee. At parish kermesses and pilgrimages, free or low-cost portions are served to pilgrims.

What do the tamales at Guadalupan kermesses taste like?

They taste like traditional Mexican tamales: nixtamalised maize dough with lard, fluffy, wrapped in dried corn husks. The red ones contain pork in a mildly spicy sauce; the green ones, chicken with herbal freshness; the mole ones, a complex flavour of chillies and sweet spices. Chocolate atole accompanies them with its deep sweetness and spiced notes of cinnamon.

How are Guadalupan dishes served?

They are served at parish kermesses with large tables, on disposable plates or shared crockery, throughout the week of 12 December. Pilgrims receive them at the Basilica and at stalls along the pilgrimage routes. Families also prepare tamales and atole at home to celebrate with neighbours and share with those attending Mass.

Where does the tradition of eating tamales on 12 December come from?

The tradition fuses pre-Hispanic rituals of offering tamales to the goddess Tonantzin (whose shrine stood at Tepeyac before the Guadalupan apparition) with the Catholic festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe instituted after 1531. Mexican cultural syncretism transformed Mesoamerican maize rituals into a vast Guadalupan celebration that has continued from the sixteenth century until today.