A story of cake and kings.

by

After reading a comment Kary made at MizFit I emailed asked if she’d expand on her remark regarding food, Mexico and traditional Mexican holiday celebrations.

I was particularly interested in hearing her thoughts regarding Three Kings Day because I’d written about/researched it extensively for a newspaper serial.

(The serial was written for elementary school aged students & The Three Kings Day chapter is linked below should you be curious for a peek into Miz’ dayjobworld).

I have B.A. in Communication, worked 10 years as coeditor in two newspapers and one software company. At this moment I work online as Quality Assessor and I write two blogs as hobby, one in English and one in Spanish. I have a personal blog too, cafeveracruz.blogspot.com, but I’m slowly translating it to English to do it more friendly. Hopefully someday I will have profits from the first two, but for now I’m more focused in trying to be healthier and help my family be healthy too.

As reader of this blog, I can say I have learned a lot. I started reading this blog because in Mexico the information on health and fitness is scattered and I haven’t found someone as Miz (and other bloggers who write about this topic): informed, committed and that see fitness and health not as an obsession but as a way to feel better as a human being.
In Mexico I see people who are completely disconnected from the notion of eating well and being healthy or who equals being thin with being healthy (no matter how you achieve the goal of being thin).
Our holidays frequently are sort of a ‘fight’ between these two kinds of ideas. While some people (almost always the older people) say that you should just eat and not worry about the quantity and the quality of food, others are always ‘on a diet’, but fad diets (just one kind of fruit, no carbohydrates at all, no meat, etc). There seems to be no middle ground, but
nobody seems to notice.
For example, one of the holidays MizFit was asking me about, 3 kings day, celebrated in January 6th and also known as Wise Men Day, involves eating bread made with a good amount of butter, covered with egg whites, sugar and
on top of it dried and candied figs, quinces and cherries, among other things. So, one slice of this bread has 300 calories approximately.
Depending of the size of this bread you can obtain anywhere from 7 to 20 slices. Typically you eat more than one because the bread has inside it a little plastic figure (that represents Child Jesus) that must be found. The person who finds the figure has to take a Child Jesus representation to the church on February 2th and also offer ‘tamales’ to the same people who eat the bread with you (tamales are, as Wikipedia defines it, a food consisting of steam-cooked corn dough with or without filling). Also, this bread is accompanied with chocolate.
Lately bakeries have made variations of the bread adding chocolate syrup or other fillings to the bread. It’s a nice tradition, but sometimes I think it should not be so associated with food or to be almost an obligation to eat more food than we want.
I believe we are completely clueless about what can a certain dish do to our bodies.

Mexicans are used to think of food almost as a status thing; for example, for a peasant eating processed food it’s almost like saying they are like middle class people, that they can buy this “expensive” food. Food industry doesn’t help either: they strongly publicize all kinds of junk food and they lobby to prevent schools to ban this food to be sold inside them.
They worry about sales only, without thinking at all at the obesity rates (we are second in the world after US) or the diseases related with eating junk food (like diabetes, we are the first place in the world).

OK Bumbling Band. This MizFit is woman enough to say she’d not even heard of Three Kings Day before she stumbled up the holiday & decided to use it as writing fodder.

(Click here to read the chapter from my serial which focused on Three Kings Day)

Are you of Mexican descent and celebrate Three Kings Day? Have any insights, musings or memories to share?

Are you not of Mexican descent, celebrate Three Kings Day with traditional Mexican foods, and wanna share a recipe in the comments?

Thoughts & reactions to Kary’s assertions with regards to how, for the most part, people in Mexico view health, wellness & fitness?

Reactions to the notion of food as a status statement?

Please to hit us all up in the comments.

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Comments

  2. I just heard of this from my hubby (who is not mexican so the main message was lost). Thanks for the info! I hope you find a good solution – I have no help there as I struggle with the holidays that have typical bad foods but where you are not bound to them (4th july with bbq and potato chips, easter and candy, thanksgiving and all that comes with it)!

  3. THanks for this post. I celebrate Three Kings Day and all the amazing foods it entails and this year I vowed to change my diet (food intake)

    I entirely agree that the Mexican culture puts such an emphasis on traditional foods (which I embrace and adore) which do not help with my battle of the bulge.

    Especially the food as status idea in that volumes of food indicates, in my family, wealth and prosperity.

    I imagine it is the same in many, many cultures.

  5. I LVOE THIS!
    As with your post about the tattoo (when was that? this weekend?) I look forward to coming here because it isnt all fitness.

    I celebrate Three Kings Day (hurry John!!!) and really enjoyed the post and your story, MizFit.

    I’ll be back when I g et my boys ready for school.

  6. Sadly, my knowledge of Three Kings Day is limited to the Dora Saves Three Kings Day DVD we bought to entertain the girls on a recent roadtrip.

    I do think that many of the points touched upon also ring true for Americans, especially the divergence among family members that you should just “let go” for the holidays.

    The status symbol reverence placed on processed food, however, is completely opposite of here…since the healthier whole grains, fruits, vegetables, etc. are so much more expensive than the processed food. So, someone mentioning that they are going to sushi would be looked at as much more hoity-toity foodwise than someone hitting up McD’s.

  7. We lived in Puerto Rico for 2 years so we celebrate 3 Kings Day. No traditional food for us, but we just recognize the day and we always leave our Christmas tree up until after the 6th.

  8. I’ve never heard of it… The only holidays in my country that are connected to food are Christmas and Heritage Day, which is also referred to as National Braai (BBQ) day! But you can make either as healthy or unhealthy as you like, since we don’t have specific dishes for them.

  9. I married into a family who celebrates 3 Kings Day and for us it is like another christmas

    lots of fat laden foods and for this woman who is working hard to shed close to 80 pounds it is a challenge.

    I would imagine that there are many Jewish holidays which do the same, MizFit?

    (I hope it is ok that I ask)

    Sarah

  10. Ok, I woke up late, have sick kids, and have not had a full cup of coffee, but isn’t this something like Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday and the King Cake?

    She had me at tamales. LOVE tamales. NEED tamales. Waiting for those recipes, band mates.

    🙂

  11. marianne? I know you are waiting for *my* protein’male recipe. right?

    And yes sarah you can pretty much ask and say anything around here unless it’s unkind or offensive 😉

    To speak for my experience & what I’ve seen and what is stereotypical but behind so many stereotypes theres a kernel of truth:

    Its less an indicator of status (the food) and more all kinds of wrapped up in guilt.

    The ‘I poured myself into making this fatsugarlanden thing and you aren’t going to cram 3 slices in your piehole? You don’t love me’ scenario.

    Food. Culture. Weightloss.

    All inextricably tied I guess.

  12. How great! I thought this was just a New Orleans thing. Not so.

    Also, I love the irony of the food-as-status comment. Here in the US, we’ve moved from processed foods being related to higher status to processed foods are now seen as very much an affliction of the poor and the fresher and organic stuff is what’s pricey and higher-status. (There’s no Whole Foods in Dundalk…)

  13. ok lea. you sucked me back in.

    Thanks for the link & the N.O. info as well.

    And what you said stuck a chord with me.

    You are 100% correct in the staus symbol being the organic. The uber pure.

    I oft say to Ren Man that money isn’t important to me BUT I’d love to have oddles as I grocery shop at whole foods with nary a thought to prices (no Trader Joes here).

    I’d just fill the cart.

    ***however***

    (And yes, some disclosure here)
    I still work with a few clients and, with 99.9% of them the binge food of choice is the inexpensive.

    The processed.

    The Little Debbies’esque.

    The very processedsugarladennoorganicgrainstobe found.

    Why is that, I wonder?!

    (She muses NOT rhetorically…)

  14. Traditional celebrations with my family all involve things made with butter, sour cream, sugar. If my mom can’t brag that she used 18 eggs in the big bowl of ‘tater salad, something just ain’t right. She always seems to take pride in just how deadly….er decadent she can make her contributions to the holiday buffet. No one here will brag about how fresh the lettuce is or whole grain nuthin’.

    So even though we don’t have a hidden king, “The King” would have loved my fam…thank you very much.

  15. There are sooo many celebrations that seem to revolve around eating, in all cultures and religions.

    Traditionally Russians are supposed to fast through most of December, and then celebrate Christmas in early January with a feast. Yes, I was tempted to take up the mantle of my forbears this year, but I decided I would just be adopting a family tradition to fall back into bad habits.

    This is an extreme case, I know, but the point is times change and we should be able to pay respect to traditions without them completely derailing our efforts towards personal health and fitness.

    TA x

  16. good point, TA and one I hoped someone would make.

    Food as status symbol (and guilt) is one end of the spectrum and food as cultural/religious abstaining is the other.

    Not surprisingly, as a trainer, I often saw both.

    I choose not to fast on Yom Kippur (the Jewish day of atonement).
    I don’t consume as I normally do——by any stretch—–but for me if I drink not a sip of water etc. I find I focus less on atoning and all on how hungry I am.

    I clearly recall more than a few high school classmates who would ‘choose’ Yom Kippur as their D-Day

    Their diet launching day.

    They’d fast, which did kick my nontraditional Jewish arse in the commandment sense, but in a nonhealthy way or mindset.

    What you described so much more articulately above.

  17. I used to rent a duplex above a traditional family from Mexico. Every year I looked forward to getting a big plate of their homemade chicken tamales.

    They were an extended family; the two grandparents, two daughters, three grandsons and a granddaugher. Each generation was progressively chubbier and chubbier, which I attribute to the fact that they were always on the porch chowing down on pork rinds, twinkies, or goodies from the ice cream truck.

    Not a thing wrong with eating a tamale and a piece of cake. Just don’t have seconds and thirds.

  18. wow.

    you nailed it Miz.

    I’d not thought about this before but I am a food snob. People know about me I only like the best and the freshest food or baked goods.

    I binge on Entemans.

    I binge on krispy kreme.

  19. This is nothing new. Way back in the middle ages (when I was just a wee tot), the peasants ate brown bread and the rich ate the white/pure bread.

    I love Whole Foods, but you gotta watch them because they will charge more for the same organic can of tomatoes than your normal grocer will.

    : )

  20. I love learning about traditions in other cultures. This is fascinating – thanks for sharing!

    It seems that most cultures tend to celebrate with food. But then, if you think about it, having more food than you need has always been a sign of prosperity and security and, therefore, a reason for thanksgiving and celebration. Over time, it seems to have evolved into the whole nature and substance of virtually every celebration we have.

    The problem is that ages ago, the ONLY time people ate to excess was during celebrations. Nowadays, we do it every day, and then feel the need to be even MORE over the top for celebrations. If we could get back to a “food as fuel and only eat as much as you absolutely need to” mindset, then the celebrations wouldn’t be such a problem…

    Of course, if you’re like me, you can find excuses, um, I mean REASONS, to celebrate all the flippin’ time, so…sigh.

    Still. I enjoyed reading about this. 🙂

    V.

  21. I agree with TA on this one. Combining religion and food is not always a great thing since the nutrition process (food for fuel) is lost completely. I’d be interested to know the how and why the super bread came to be part of this. I wouldn’t be surprised that the initial celebration started out as an offering of just bread and through the centuries tribal elders packed on the calories and it came to be what is known as today.

    I wonder if fruitcake went through this metamorphosis.

  22. Food tends to be a status statement over here, too. Particularly with Island families, and with events, like weddings. The more food you provide, you are seen to be more prosperous, and command more respect.

  23. What a coinkidink–I ate chicken tamales for dinner last night! I grew up in El Paso, TX, on Mexico’s border and you can move the Texan to Minnesota but you can’t take away her love for Mexican food (and finding good tamales in MN is NOT easy to do…) but three kings day, also known among us gringos as Epiphany, yes celebrated it. Growing up my aunt made a bundt cake, which was probably not all that more calorie laden than the traditional bread. Along with our cake (so fun to find the trinkets inside) we also wrote down a regret from the previous year and a wish for the coming year, put it on a branch from the Christmas tree and threw it into the fire. Also, we made crowns out of construction paper and then marched around the house singing 12 days of Christmas, so maybe we worked off the cake? Leave it to my family to make it an active holiday… However, per food as a status symbol. I do think that is true of the Mexican culture. I also think it might have been the case for the generation who grew up/lived during the depression. My grandfather *prefers* canned/processed food and I swear it’s because of an era when those foods came into existence and he could afford to buy them (or not, but did). With the downturn in our economy makes me wonder if our society will become even more deranged with food choices. Today is Epiphany. I’ll go with the crowns and parade and skip the cake!

  24. yanking this out, Tom so it isnt lost:

    I’d be interested to know the how and why the super bread came to be part of this. I wouldn’t be surprised that the initial celebration started out as an offering of just bread and through the centuries tribal elders packed on the calories and it came to be what is known as today.

    I wonder if fruitcake went through this metamorphosis.

    VERY VERY INTERESTING comment mamasweat! I love the idea of the writing down of the regret and throwing into the fire.

    very interesting question to which I have no answer.

    now, were you to want musing on the matzah ball? Im yer gal.

  27. Very interesting discussion, folks.

    Foods as status…..this changes, as has already been pointed out (at one time kings ate white bread, peasants only the brown, etc) An example of this change is the traditional treat my family enjoys at Christmas – Lefse. It is expensive to buy and also expensive to purchase the ‘correct’ tools for making it yourself. In the ‘old country’ it was a poor man’s food, only.

    TA’s comment …… “we should be able to pay respect to traditions without them completely derailing our efforts towards personal health and fitness.” is right on. I’ve been slowly working toward eliminating the traditional Christmas baking from our celebration – Getting pretty close to it, too. No one complained this year with only 5 choices of treats (down from probably 15 – 20 in previous years)

  28. I’m not Mexican and don’t celebrate that holiday. But, I can relate to one of her last comments — about poorer Mexican’s consuming processed and junk food because it makes them feel wealthier, more part of the middle class.

    I’ve volunteered at a woman’s shelter, teaching the women and their kids about healthy eating and the benefits of exercise. They all wanted packaged food. Much of their reasoning was that it was easier and they knew little about food preparation. But, in one of our discussions, the topic of embarrassment came up. These women were acutely aware of the embarrassment their kids felt about living at the shelter and they wanted to reduce that by giving the kids junk, to show that they could “provide” name brand, packaged foods to their kids. In this way the kids would seem more “normal” in front of other kids. Does that make sense? There was more to it, but I’ll just say that I do believe that the way food is marketed makes poorer individuals more likely to want to buy it for status reasons.

    It’s a terrible thing.

  29. hmm, learn something new everyday 🙂 i really wish food wasn’t the focus of the holiday season, and more focus was on the traditional family meal every day (even though i eat alone)…

    the food as a status… with organic food, totally… those who can afford can be “healthier”?? not all organic food is healthy, which I’ve come to realize by reading labels, but it is more expensive…

  30. Food as status is a much harder barrier to overcome than traditional unhealthy celebration foods. If it were just one day or 15 to 20 over a year – it would have little impact on health and serve as a very important part of maintaining tradition, bridging distance (e.g diaspora of people) and bringing together generations.

    Food as status makes sense to me and is also (I would guess) a very common cultural reaction to group who have struggled through times when food is scare.

    No solutions here. Just acknowledging it is a hard problem to tackle and likely needs to start with education of young people/parents — Different reasons in the US but the same problem. How the heck do you get people to take an active role in their health – when they do not see it as a problem?

    OK I rambled. Sorry…..

  31. so many compelling insights Im gonna just sit back and listen.

    only wanted to say: ALWAYS feel free to link away (nan) and never apologize fer the rambles (Dana).

    The only rule of Fight Club MizFit is play nicely with others—and speak your mind.

  32. The French have a similar tradition (they use a pastry-like cake, and the person that finds the plastic baby is “king (or queen) for the day” and has to make the cake for next year.

    I think that food is definitely a status thing. I mean, look at the incomes of the people doing the raw food diet or eating only organic foods.

    In the religious side, I know many people who treat Lent (the time that Christians honor Christ for spending 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, without food or water. During this time, Christians will give up something that they’ll miss, or simply spend the time doing good deeds.) as a 40 day diet (and because you’re able to take Sunday’s and Saint’s days off, there are even “cheat” days).

  34. Neither the husband nor I are of Mexican descent but we both lived in Spain and they also celebrate it, albeit a little bit differently. There you make a special cake and hide the toy in the cake (the first year I thought you baked the cake with the toy inside it – which we discovered was a bad idea once we’d eaten the cake and there was nary a toy to be found… it melted. We ate. Eek.). In Spain, we loved all the food traditions but they were balanced out by how much everyone walks over there and the small portion sizes. Here? Yummy cake + cars = not good.

  35. I’ve never celebrated Three Kings Day, but maybe I should as that bread sounds amazing! The tradition reminds me of Kings Cake during Mardi Gras. While on the subject of Mexican treats, can I just say that tres leches cake is my favorite. I get it from a local Mexican bakery here in town. Hey, I bet they sell that bread…might be giving them a call later today. 🙂 Cool post – thanks for sharing!

  36. Hey, Miz… a funny story for you…

    OK, so my kids are the SuperNoots kids, right? That means they are constantly subjected to food experiments, bombarded with healthy eating propoganda around the house, and worst of all, horribly manipulated by their mother, who likes to test out various ways to get kids to eat healthy.

    That being said, this Christmas I proposed baking a healthier treat for Santa. Well, my five-year-old shot me a “don’t you dare mess with Santa’s cookies” look that made me run, not walk, for the white flour and refined sugar.

    So, this whole Santa’s cookies thing is ridiculous. It’s a food tradition, if overturned, that might possibly save us all a few pounds over the holidays.

  37. This is a fascinating discussion going on in here, and the Bag Lady doesn’t have much to contribute. She totally agrees with several of the commenters who have mentioned food as a status symbol. In times past, when food was scarce and what you had you mostly produced yourself, people hoarded and saved in order to have enough food for their celebrations. Of course, this has evolved over time, as everything else has.

    Okay, lost my train of thought. In fact, the train pulled out of the station quite some time ago…..
    Dang. Guess I’ll stop now and let the rest of the bumbling band take over.

  38. Thanks for linking to your awesome “daytime” work for the newspaper. Very interesting discussion here today. On a related/not related note: at the TX Conference for Women a speaker talked about growing up in a family of women who were always dieting and that every Monday was the start of a new diet…every weekend/holiday was “time off” and I think that is how many girls grow up – one long diet, starting over each Monday, starting over after each holiday, etc. Thanks Miz

  39. In the Philippines, they celebrate with the Feast of the Three Kings. Usually it involves candy for the kids and a lot of food (as most celebrations and family gatherings do). I love learning about other cultures and loved this post. Thanks!

  40. Very, very interesting! It’s my first time to hear of 3 Kings Day too. The bread sounds similar to Mardi Gras king cake.

  41. It is always interesting to me the tie between food & religion and culture.
    I’m from nonMexican descent yet we have celebrated 3 Kings Day for as long as I can recall.

    Now I am questioning if it was just a family excuse to indulge.

    Love the post. Thought provoking as always.

  42. The food as status idea seems so obvious to me – although maybe not *junk food* as status necessarily. I have seen it mainly in that there are definetly certain cultures of men who have been more attracted to me (as a not-skinny woman) than say, a lot of american men. Generally it is men from more third-world countries, where food is a sign of prosperity. When I was traveling in Europe, I attracted me a hell of a lot of African men… Course it could have just been my amazing beauty and dazzling wit. 😉
    Although that was over 10 years ago, and the western “ideal” has spread significantly more since then, so who knows if I would get it now.

  43. amen on the western weight obsession, err, ideal spreading and in such an unhealthy way.

    I’m still so befuddled (ok I just like that word ;)) by what I’ve seen and the comment above (on handheld and can’t see to refer to commenter by name) with regards to being more of a FOODIE except for binge foods.

    Although it could be as simple as the processed cheap being more sugared sweet soothing.

    We could ask Oprah during her webinar but I hear she’s a blue chip gal 😉

  44. I’d vaguely heard of it before but didn’t know anything about it. So interesting to learn more!

    Traditions with food make everything a little sketchy… when I was little I used to eat the turkey leg at Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, and it wasn’t until a couple years ago when I wanted to be healthier that I stopped doing that and started eating mostly only the white meat. Most of my family was really alarmed when I stopped eating the leg and they still tease me about it. I know its in jest but it still bothers me- that what we eat sparks questions and all. It’s difficult to get out of food traditions- or even cut back a little on them- without offending people when the traditions are associated with holidays or social events.

  45. Food as status – I feel this every time I have to buy the store brand instead of the name brand. I feel it every time my SIL brings over some fancy dish from the snooty grocery store in her neighborhood. I feel it every time I have to pass up a star fruit, so I can buy more apples. I feel it when my kids say the neighbors across the street have more snacks than we do.

    Can you tell this hit a nerve??

  46. Several commenters have already mentioned that food is just as much of a status symbol here as in Mexico – and explained it better than I could have. So, I’ll tackle the food as part of religious and family celebrations.

    I don’t see any problem with feasting holidays. Food really does bring everyone together. We all have a couple of extended family member who can’t be civil at so much as the mention of each others name – but at that big holiday family gathering, they pass each other the bowl of starches with a smile. The trouble is what used to be a seasonal or annual gathering for a feast is no longer the exception. There’s no need to stuff yourself at the harvest feast, because we didn’t spend months on rations, while tending the crops and herds. And the fats and sugars packed into processed foods (if that’s what you’re eating) make every day a feast day.

    I love the rich, buttery goodness of my grandmother’s recipes, and serve the traditional dishes at the holidays, though I will go for lower fat and sugar content where it’s not essential to the outcome. I just need to make sure those feast days are not surrounded by months of excess.

  47. Ya know what gets me? People who infer that because I take the time to read labels and make foods from scratch (hello, I made tons of chex mix for a fraction of the bagged price) means that I don’t have “important” things to do. Just because you buy a brand name does not mean that it’s got the best stuff in it. I can think for myself. And I put a high priority on crap free food. My kids get snacks. I make them. I wouldn’t necessarily be proud to have a trash can on the curb full of wrappers. (sorry, ranting) But Jill? I hope you can get to the point where you feel sorry for someone who has to compensate with fancy dishes from snooty stores. It’s sad, really…

  48. The 12th day of Christmas is a traditional Catholic holiday. (Though in Irish American tradition it’s more often referred to as the day when the 3 wise guys showed up at the manager. I think the Mexican name is much classier. Or better still, the English term for the holiday: the Feast of the Epiphany.)

    And not to disrespect my ancestors, but fruitcake is evil!!!!

    Now you’ve got me thinking about food and religion. (Thinking. Before breakfast. Shame on you, Miz.) Are the 40 days of Lent a way to balance out the excesses of the Christmas season?

  49. passing bowls of starches with a smile.
    ——
    There may be no better familial holiday tagline than that!

    We just need to add a SINCE 1807 kinda thing and we’re set.

    Many more thoughts than that but life calls in the form of Mommy & Me Spanish.

    (Anyone else kinda grumpy today? Or is it just me…)

  51. I’m not grumpy today, as today was my first exercise in two weeks at a grown up pace. I enjoyed the walks, the yogakids, the hikes, the “running” during field hockey in the back yard, but I am soooo glad to be out playing in traffic again that I’m not going to be grumpy again until at least tomorrow.

    Embrace the grumpy, MizFit. You do such a great job cheering us on a regular basis, that it’s only fair. Be a curmudgeon for a day.

  52. oh you did NOT use the ‘C’ word.

    I love that word.

    Just used it in an email to describe myself!

  54. Miz, here in New Orleans, once Epiphany starts off the Carnival season (ending with Mardi Gras day), you are surrounded by king cakes. Most of them aren’t even tasty, but people will try to compel you to eat them. Parades encourage more food, restaurant food while you’re watching or junk tossed from the floats… and the drink, my goodness, the drink… the entire season here seems to be about abandoning the reasonable in favor of the hedonistic.

    OTOH, you can go watch everyone doing so without doing so yourself!

  56. Hi, Miz:

    First of all, I’m really honored to have been invited to write a guest post. Since I visited your blog for the first time I like it a lot and the fact that you have so many people visiting and commenting probes that they feel the same.

    I’m reading the comments right now and if there’s anything anyone wants to ask, I will be glad to help.

    Thank you again.

  57. The other day I made the mistake of leaving my healthy lunch at home and had to go out and buy something. There’s a spot called U Food Grill that serves healthier options like “un-fries”. I ended up spending 7 bucks on a turkey sandwich — JUST the sandwich. Sure, it was on whole grain bread with organic tomato and lettuce, but I couldn’t help but growl to myself at the thought that I could have gotten lunch AND dinner off the dollar menu at McD’s across the street!!

  58. In many culture, food is definitely a status statement. In the Philippines eating more fatty food means more comfortable living.

    I remember seeing an a milk ad on tv when visiting the Philippines. The mild ad said “try our new and improve milk with more butter fat” and of course a portly kid was pictured downing a glass of milk.

  61. I’m not Mexican, and we never celebrated the day, per se, but when I was growing up, the tree didn’t come down until after Epiphany (same holiday, different name). Christmas isn’t really over until the Kings get there! I always wanted to really celebrate the day: sort of the “ending holiday” to close the season officially. I like the idea of it.

    Re: food as status. I’ve seen a lot of comments about how different cultures emphasize different foods (processed, unprocessed, packaged, organic, etc.), but really, all those emphases are exactly the same: whatever is hardest to attain (in ANY culture) is the most coveted. If you live in an area where most people grow and eat their own food, and where food is probably not abundant, then a hamburger from McD’s would seem like the height of indulgence. Here in the US, the processed, packaged food is the most readily available (and often the cheapest), so our “height of indulgence” is organic, unprocessed food.

    Even within the US though, there are variations. If you live in farm country, imported food might seem exotic, and you wouldn’t think twice about eating locally, because you probably already are. If you live in a large city, you can buy imported Italian tuna at the grocery store, but you make special trips to the farmer’s market to buy “locally grown” food, because it’s not readily available.

    Status is all about what is hardest to get. The easier the food is to obtain, the lower the status it carries.

    (That’s also true of other things. One hundred and fifty years ago in the U.S., people went to great lengths to avoid sun exposure. Why? Because a great deal of work was done outdoors. So if you had pale skin, it meant you were rich enough to live a life of leisure. Today, it’s just the opposite. Most people work indoors, and they’re pale. So now a tan is a popular thing to have – again, because it means that you have the time and financial comfort to spend your days lazing at the beach. See what I mean?)

    Wow, that’s a long comment. And my nerd roots are showing! I took WAY too much sociology in school, LOL.

  62. Ok, after reading all the comments, thanks everyone who read the post and who liked to learn about Mexican culture. I’m really glad you did. Everything you said is very interesting to read and the food and status thing I believe it’s a thing US and Mexico have in common.

    I saw there were some specific doubts I can help to solve and I’m answering them (as shortly as I can and I hope it’s ok, Miz) here:

    Marianne and Heather:

    Definitely the Mardi Gras/ Fat Tuesday is connected to Three Kings Day. When I was doing some research to be more accurate in the post I found this in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_cake

    Tom:

    The King’s cake, I have read in some sites, came from the unleavened bread used to celebrate Passover, but the early Christians started to do a different kind of bread with white flour and yeast, added nuts, fig y dates. So yes, you are right, first the bread was intended as an offering and then it evolved in the bread we have today.

    Mizfit: Even if for me a tamale is kind of ‘forbidden’ because if I start, it’s difficult not to eat more than one, I will read with interest your protein ‘male receipt.

    And about the binging with processed food, maybe people chooses it to bing because this food has all that artificial and enhanced flavors MANUFACTURED by the food industry.

    Dragonmamma: Yes, a lot of Mexican people tends to eat like you describe it. They see eating as something that can be done almost all day long! And processed foods are the ones that many of them choose to eat when they have any kind of craving. It’s like they are EXPECTED to eat not only one tamale, but all they can eat.

    Felice: You are so right, one big reason of why poorer Mexican people wants to buy processed foods is that they want to be ‘normal’ in some way and this inexpensive food everyone eats makes them feel so. And yes, it’s sad.

    TYPING WHILE YOU WERE, KARY. THANK YOU FOR ALL THIS!

  63. I’m reading the comments right now and if there’s anything anyone wants to ask, I will be glad to help.

    how about this?

    She had me at tamales. LOVE tamales. NEED tamales. Waiting for those recipes, band mates.

    (and Marste? THANK YOU. so many thoughts in response…coming soon to a comment box near you.)

  64. fantastic off the beaten path post, MizFit.
    Thank you for this.
    and I want to say again what Kary says in comment number 62:

    the problem (in my family anyway) is that the experience of so many events like Three Kings Day is that the plan is not for A tamale but as many as you can consume with our bursting.

    I also agree that the processed holds a level of esteem in poorer households. The status one can achieve by purchasing these nonnutritional foods is staggering.

  65. And I thought the US was bad about celebrating our holidays with all kinds of “bad for us” foods.

    I love Mexican food. Well, that is to say that after I fixited Mexico City for a week I much prefer Tex/Mex but I did love tamales. I’ve been searching for a good recipe to no avail.

  67. We never celebrated this day (funny…just last night my mother-in-law reminded me that today was “Little Christmas” the day the 3 wise men visited Jesus.) Aka the 12th day of Christmas… I think Catholics call it the Epiphany??

    Anyway – never celebrated that one but we did always celebrate St. Nicholas Day – December 6th when the kids were little. Set their shoes out the night before and they were filled with goodies the next morning. (Hubby taught me that one – I’d never heard of it till I married him!

  68. Whoa, so much to digest here. (pun inteneded) I hadn’t heard of 3 kings celebration before. As someone who has struggled with weight/health and finances I see many contradictions in my food choices, but hadn’t really pondered whether any of it was about status.

    I also enjoyed seeing your day job work!

  69. Ha ha Miz! She wants your recipe! Send her the one for your “pancakes” too!! Wonderful detriment to pigging out – let Miz cater!!! LOL.

  70. I’d never heard of Three Kings Day, thanks for the info, MizFit.

    As for holidays with “bad” food, I have to admit to looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas because I really enjoy baking: breads, cookies, cakes, you name it. The baking of such treats is kind of a family tradition, and yes, they’re usually full of eggs, or butter and fruit, nuts and chocolate. But I do freeze a lot of it so I can portion it out over the winter and spring. However, I also give a lot away and have never thought that I might be sabotaging someone’s diet. Ugg, I feel bad now.

    As for food as a status symbol, if I remember correctly from my history classes, it used to be in some cultures that the fatter you were indicated your higher social status.

  71. I do not celebrate Three Kings Day and I am grateful. I am not Mexican or of Mexican descent.

    Seems like every holiday we celebrate involves food. The last thing I need is another holiday with more bread and sweets.

    I read Kary’s post about tamales and I agree. Who can eat just one? For me, bread or sweetened bread products would trigger a full-blown gorge.

  72. I hadn’t heard of Three Kings Day, but I’m glad I have now. That bread sounds heavenly, almost like King Cake, except probably not as much sugar. 🙂

  73. Hi, everyone again.

    Miz, on the contrary, thank you for the post, 🙂

    For those who want tamales, I found a link in English with the BASIC idea on how to prepare tamales. It’s the one I think resembles the most to the ones we do in Mexico. I don’t know how hard it’s to get the ingredients in US, but here it is:

    http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/deliciousmaindishes/a/Tamales.htm

    I recommend, if someone is going to do the tamales, invite people over or you will end eating more than you want, lol.

  74. Well, as a Mexican (living in Mexico and all 😉 ) I’ve gotta say that in my family we just have yet another family gathering of wine and gossiping and the traditional bread is quite “meh”, specially the big store kind that could probably feed an entire army and tastes of regular bread with a nice topping of sugar.

    The only thing I can be thankful for from my 9 years of (recovered/ing) eating disorder is that my family doesn’t even ask anymore. Just pour me a glass of wine, thank you.

    Seriously, it’s sad we can’t really celebrate ANYTHING without food getting in the way. Birthday? Cake, Thanksgiving? Turkey, Christmas? Lots of food…

  76. My mom was born and raised in Guatemala and when my brothers and I were young we used to celebrate Dia de los Reyes. We haven’t for a long time, though.

    Now when we get together with her siblings and other Guatemalan relatives for Christmas Eve or New Year’s it’s always a huge fiesta with tons of food -tamales, taquitos, chips, salsa, guacamole, and the standard cookies and brownies, etc.

    This year for New Years my wife and I wanted to bring something different so we brought fruit kebabs. Had bananas, apples, strawberries and grapes. Surprisingly, they were some of the first things to get eaten. I guess when given the option, a lot of people do make pretty good choices!

    (sorry so long!)

  77. Always interested in new cultures- I was super surprised that Mexico is second to us in rising obesity rates.

    Thanks for the informative post- as always!

  79. interesting to me as well as I wasn’t sure how many people would have heard of 3 Kings Day let alone celebrate it.

    “Regular bread with a nice topping of sugar”

    😉

    Loved that description…

  80. I hadn’t heard of Three Kings Day before but very interesting to read. I think that food as a status is something I grew up with too. My parents were both children of the depression and my Dad especially got a lot of enjoyment out of feeding our friends steak, a lot of the kids I went to school with had never had steak or their parents would eat it after sending the kids to bed. With my Mom’s family, food was a crucial part of every meal and abundance and quality were at the forefront of every celebration. It was all about the big spread of food.

  81. I agree Scale Junkie (love your name)!

    Food in my house was definitely a ‘look we have made it’ as well.
    Lots of it always and lots of starches and having the ability to have leftovers was a sign of affluence or so I was raised to think.
    Neat post and thank you for teaching me somthing today too.

    I had not heard of Three Kings Day.

  82. What an interesting topic! I’ve never heard of this holiday but I do think that people use holidays as an excuse to overeat (I am definitely guilty as charged but I’m fully aware of the damage I’m doing to myself and understand the implications of my actions – not just during the holidays). I think in certain countries (sounds like Mexico included) it’s really black and white. I believe Russians are the same. It will take time for it to get better – I think young people with more access to the internet and ability to “see” how other cultures are viewing food (and other topics of course) are moving in the right direction. Although honestly, in my opinion, there will never be an end to diets – some people will always look for a quick fix!

  83. This post is not only insightful, but has given me a nice tune to hum the rest of the day…We Three Kings of Orient are…la la la la la la la la

  84. The bread isn’t the guilty one.. is the people who eats more than one slice…

    In my opinion..

    I like so much my traditions, I’m Mexican, but the problem is how much we eat, no matter what.. been with the family and eat together is a rich an nice tradition, the only problem is how much and do some exercise in the daily routine.

  85. I had a heart blip in early December and didn’t know if my heart was okay until Dec. 29th. It made the holidays kind of crummy, but gave me a lot of food for thought. Because weight is a big factor in heart disease, I found myself hating all the emphasis on food during the holidays. Why do celebrations have to revolve around food? Kary’s comment about food as a status symbol is another way that food has lost it’s real meaning — as nourishment. If I do nothing else this year, I want to remind myself (over and over if necessary) that food is for nourishing my body. When I use it for other purposes (entertainment, comfort, reward, celebration) I’m actually abusing it and myself in the process.

  86. We had TWO three kings cakes last year at work. Strangely enough, the one that my boss brought, the baby jesus was found in the LAST PIECE. Crazy!

    I too am so sick of there being so many holidays that revolve around junk food. Sure, on the day in question, why not splurge, it’s only one day, right? The problem is, what do you do with the valentines candy, the thanksgiving leftovers, and the christmas cookies after the fact? Christmas parties happen ALL December. Cookouts happen ALL summer.

    Why oh why cannot there be a holiday centered around healthy living? Like Go-Run-A-5k Day. Or a day where we gather around the traditional feast of tilapia, brown rice, and veggies? I think we need to start a revolution! 🙂

  88. Hmm…I think a lot of these food based traditions come from a time when there was often not enough food to go around, let alone enough food to get fat off of. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) those days are for the most part long gone, so while it used to be that people ate these rich, sugary, calorie dense foods once or twice a year, now they eat them every day.

    I’m with Quix on the revolution. Perhaps we need a banner and a holiday? ^_^

    -Meg


  89. Don’t you knooooooow they’re talkin’ about a revoluuuuution (& it sounds like a whisper…).

    Tracy Chapman, anyone?

  90. WOW this is an interesting story. I’m Dominican and our celebration of El Dia de Los Reyes Magos which translated means the day of the three magic kings but we all know what it really is. Anyway, as a kid we used to look forward to finding a gift somewhere in our room, usually at the foot of the bed. I remember being told that they would come and give gifts to the children just as they did with baby Jesus. We had to leave a small light on (representing the star) to help guide the kings to our home. Their entry into our home was as much a mystery as that of Santa Claus. Thanks for sharing Miz!

  91. We in the U.S. are just as obsessed with the perception of food and feasting. Just walk into a grocery store, and look at all the flashy advertising for packaged foods. The cereal aisle is loaded with stuff shouting their health benefits, and vitamin content. All the while, the quaint oatmeal and fresh fruits sit by sedately, usually overlooked.

  92. I think a lot of cultures view food, especially breads, as an important part of holiday celebrations. We have Challah, Tsoureki, Babka, Kulich, Bouche de Noel, Figgy Pudding, Paskalya Çöre?i… and the list goes on and on. It seems every culture has some sort of celebratory bread, and every holiday has some sort of meal associated with it for some reason.

    In the Russian Orthodox church, BTW, today is Christmas. I used to celebrate on Old Calendar because the Serbian church I belonged to did. So we got double Christmas: One a secular Christmas with the family, one a religious Christmas.

    Of course nothing beats the kind of feasting that goes on for Easter and Bright Week…

    But I think no matter what your cultural heritage, there’ a history and tradition to foods at the holidays.

  93. I’m partially of Hispanic decent, but we never celebrated 3 Kings Day. I do have friends and a few relatives who celebrate it, but (for them) it’s more about the party aspect than the religious part.

  94. I really enjoyed reading all of your comments on this post…I think we need a follow up soon focusing more broadly on food, culture, celebrating & abundance.

  95. Very interesting! I am always interested by food and culture. I am not Mexican, but I grew up in an Italian American household where food was viewed in similar extremes. No moderation from the adults.

    Also, I think the status symbol thing is true. My mom always buys and prepares wayyyyy too much food for events and explains that it would be the worst thing to run out of food. She blames it on the depression (even though she is 53).

  96. I lived in Mexico for a year during high school as part of an exchange program, but for some reason I don’t remember this holiday… Perhaps my host family didn’t celebrate it, I’m not sure.

    It was interesting to live in that culture for a year and see how people have different attitudes toward food, for sure.

    Oh delicious Mexican food, how I miss you.

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