Bread fit for kings

Mexico continued its holiday celebration Tuesday with Three Kings Day (Tres Reyes Magos). Think Santa Claus, times three, with gold, frankincense and myrrh. On January 5th, kids write a letter to the three kings asking for gifts and claiming their well good behavior throughout the year. If they’ve been good, they wake up to gifts on the 6th, and if not, a lump of coal.

Coming back from work Monday night I was baffled at the traffic and the amount of people on the streets. It took forty minutes to get home, twenty minutes more than normal. Later, though, walking past a toy store, with about fifty ambulante stands directly outside of it selling the same (pirated) things, I knew why.

On the 6th, Mexicans eat Rosca de Reyes – King´s Bread – a large, circular piece of sweet bread topped with pieces of dried fruit. Some have cream or cheese inside, and each person takes his or her turn cutting off a piece. Tiny plastic baby Jesus dolls are baked inside, and the person who finds one has to make or buy tamales and atole (a highly concentrated drink made of sugar and corn) for friends, family or co-workers on February 2, the day of the Candelería.

My office had rosca and hot chocolate and on my second piece I nearly bit a baby Jesus. I taped him on my computer monitor where he hungrily awaits tamales.

The bread is delicious, but extremely environmentally unfriendly. Each rosca is about two feet by one foot, and sold in large plastic or cardboard containers. I don’t know if there’s a way to avoid that unless you stop the tradition, since people and bakeries lack the willpower to save and re-use the containers, and making your own seems quite difficult.

But I shouldn’t criticize…I may just buy a rosca tonight since they’re half off.