Last Thursday 27th we were fortunate to have Mariana Castillo Hernández with us. Mariana, or Mar as she is often called, is a Mexican journalist who not only creates understandable and enriching content in her account @marviajaycome but has been also awarded with the prize "Journalist of the Year" in the 2021 edition of the Gastronomic Mexico Guide. She has, as well, lectured throughout multiple universities in Mexico, edited and collaborated in books and magazines projects.
On this occasion, she joined through instagram live (available here!) to share her knowledge about Panes de Muerto.
This food, the concept of which arrives and expands, at least to Spain, in a simplified, unified and without much depth way, has many meanings and is an open door to understand "other cultural logics", according to Mar's words.
What is Pan de Muerto
We can start by defining what it is not. It is not a sweet or a dessert. And neither has it obeyed over the centuries to those shaped buns we are used to nowadays. In fact, as the journalist pointed out, these varieties appeared with the arrival of wheat to Mesoamérica. The wheat, an ingredient which was easily adopted becoming a center of cultural life.
What is the origin of Pan de Muerto?
To answer this question, Mar shared with us the information gathered in the chronicles of Fray Diego de Durán, in which the author mentioned the use of a type of amaranth and honey tortilla, which was used as an offering.
Our interviewee remarks the need to contextualize this type of rituals in a society characterized by a cult of death that differs completely from other visions: "In Mesoamerica the theme of death was fundamental and many types of offerings were made for the dead and for the different stages of visions of death, which was not the same as the Catholic one".
The evolution of Panes de Muerto
Thus, starting from the ritualistic relationship between food, offerings and death and including the appearance of wheat, lead the creation ofof dozens of Panes de Muertos with their own significance and regional origins.
When the breads came later, there was this association where now it was a bread that had shapes of flowers, people and animals to place in the offering.
@marviajaycome
Mariana collects them in her article "Los muchos panes de muerto en México: Orígenes, significados y diversidad" (The many breads of the dead in Mexico: Origins, meanings and diversity). She brought up an example throughout the talk, such as the sheep bread from Miahuatlán. This bread corresponds to the representation of the sheep that used to be sacrificed in the festivities.
Pan de muerto from village to the city
After touring the breads from Tuxtla Gutierrez to Miahuatlan in her article one gets astonished realizing the most international bun is nothing like these. The iconic sugary bun is an icon of Mexico City itself, from where it continues to evolve under creative culinary criteria and spreads to the world.
There are many things worth noting about this bun. One of the most interesting is its age. Unlike other breads that have been baked for centuries, this bread was born in 1945 by Josefina Velázquez de León. Mar shared with us this information gathered by researcher Alberto Peralta de Legarreta in his article: El Pan de Muerto, is it as old as we are told?
The ingredients of the city version of Pan de Muerto also talks about itself, as our interlocutor summarized:
We must understand that the ingredients tell us a lot about the purchasing power of the people who prepare it. This bread contains spices, orange blossom, butter, it is a bread that is prepared by people who have a much greater purchasing power. On the other hand, village breads do not contain spices or butter.
He also stated that Mexico City breads are going through an explosion, there is a lot of interest in showing them with different fillings, different toppings and that this reinforces the fact that they are aimed at people with a medium-high purchasing power.
This is one of the most recent trends. She shared that Panes de Muerto with cream spread began to appear a little more timidly a few decades ago, something she, herself had never seen before as a child.
Pan de Muerto and Offering
As we saw at the beginning, the reason for the existence of this type of bread comes from the offering and the ritual.
"The theory is that you put the Pan de Muerto for your loved ones in the offering and that the people who passed away come and eat the bread. Afterwards, bread is consumed. It is said that it is no longer as good since the essence has been taken by the visitors, the souls."
Mar added that Pan de Muertos from villages are a traditional cultural manifestation that make direct allusion to the environment, sounds, colors and animals that surround them. In her words: "That is the beauty of approaching a culture, it really involves listening to why people shape what they shape, you realize nothing is random, everything has a meaning".
Before saying goodbye, and with the hope that soon some cultural organization, public or private, will invite Mar to give a lecture in Barcelona, she allows me to approach her with one of those concerns of food writers: modernity vs. tradition and food identity in cities with its multiple influences.
For Mar, the designations of modernity and tradition play against the natural and changing evolution of culture. She considers that sometimes change is limited, "which is going to come, will come, whether you want it or not" . For her city represents a constant dialogue and pigeonholing it into one thing would not give it the depth it has.
The golden brooch, which shows his spirit, the value of his research and the prism that we can enjoy thanks to his work, summarizes not only one but many aspects of gastronomy and modern times:
Nothing in food can be generalized, it makes me laugh when someone says things like: Mexican Food, I ask myself, which kind of the multiples mexican cuisines are you talking about?!
@marviajaycome
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