Singing Carols and Eating Cakes in the Yucatan: Christmas in Merida – wayfarersoliloquy
As the tumultuous year of 2021 winds to a close, the Yucatecan city of Merida prepares for Christmas, its biggest annual celebration. Centuries ago, indigenous Mayan, Central Mexican, and European traditions mixed, forming what is today a unique and quintessentially Yucatecan holiday experience.
Merida is the tenth oldest city in Mexico and is located in the flatlands of the Northern Yucatan Peninsula. The city’s history began in the 13th century when it was the Mayan city of T’ho. Not much remained of T’ho before the invading Spaniards, led by the infamous conquistador Francisco De Montejo, aka “El Mozo,” entered the ancient city. In the following centuries the Spaniards raised the ruins and built a new city on top of the rubble. This reminded them of a city in their Iberian homeland that was built above the Roman ruins of Augusta Emerita, a city known as Merida.
When the Spanish took over, Christianity was forcibly made the only religion. Although the early Europeans tried to erase the history and traditions of their newly conquered lands they largely failed. For the indigenous population of early Mexico, adopting foreign holidays and celebrations concealed and preserved the old ways and through the years these became the blended customs we know today.
When midnight approached during Christmas Eve in Merida the neighborhoods got loud. Fireworks began several hours before and intensified exponentially until the day officially ended and Christmas began. Christmas in Mexico is one hell of a celebration, one that consists of activities, customs, and food that’s an amalgamation between Indigenous and European styles and beliefs. What’s more is the holiday spans three and a half weeks, from December 12th to January 6th.
Leading up to the big holiday, the entire city began decorating the city’s parks and public spaces with Poinsettia Flowers, also known as la flor de noche buena. Throughout the center of the city, 17th century facades were lit up like Christmas trees during the night. In the surrounding neighborhoods Children carry small candles and visit their neighbor’s homes to enjoy food and games. These “pasada” parties last nine days until the final pasada on Christmas Eve. The hosts of the pasadas set up piñatas for the kids to smash and collect the candies while the adults drink and chat throughout the evening. Pasadas, as they’re done in Mexico, originated with the Aztec holiday of Panquetzaliztli. During the pre-hispanic holiday, the reincarnation of the god Huitzilopochtli was celebrated for several days around the winter solstice. When the Spaniards came the tradition was forced to represent the biblical story of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter. All these formalities are crucial to the season’s festivities but nothing compares to the importance of food.
“In the Yucatan we eat a lot of Turkey and Cochinita,” said our new acquaintance when asked about how he celebrates Christmas Eve or Noche Buena. “Of course, cooking and eating is what we look forward to the most,” he happily insisted. In the Yucatan, Cochinita Pibil, a pit roasted marinated pig, is accompanied with Turkey and roasted ham. Other traditional indegenous foods like tamales are beloved during Christmas and in the Yucatan they are enjoyed wrapped in banana leaves as well as corn husks like they are in Central Mexico. For Christmas greens nothing beats the romeritos of Central Mexico. These edible succulent shrubs, known as seepweed in English, are cooked in a rich mole sauce and served during the Nochebuena feasts.
The Europeans brought other foods which evolved into Mexican holiday staples. Bacalao, salted and rehydrated codfish, is a European staple embraced in the Yucatan too, although with their own habanero infused twist. Cakes like Rosca De Reyes, a sweet spongy bread of Spanish origin, layered with concha crust and dried fruits, is a specialty of many panaderias around Merida. Many families pre-order their cakes leading up to Christmas. The smell of fresh sweet breads and home-baked cookies lingers in the tropical heat, trapped in the narrow rows of colonial buildings. Drinks such as eggnog, rompope, and fruit filled punches are savored compliments to the sweet breads and savory meat dishes.
After the final Pasada is Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena, and this is when our friends and everyone in their neighborhood celebrate with abandon. Families make the grand feasts and enjoy their meal into the night until the midnight mass known as “Misa de Gallo.” Elements of Mayan practices and European Christianity mix form a fine balance between guilty restraint and minor hedonism only to be let out by dancing, eating, and non-stop fireworks into the early morning. As foreign guests, we felt welcomed, satiated beyond words, and in the end were happy to waddle home and sleep in until noon, Christmas Day.