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Pan de muerto

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Pan de Muerto
Alternative namesBread of the dead
TypeSweet bread
Place of originMexico
A basket of pan de muerto

Pan de muerto(Spanishfor 'bread of the dead') is a type ofpan dulcetraditionally baked inMexicoand theMexican diasporaduring the weeks leading up to theDía de los Muertos,which is celebrated from November 1 to November 2.[1]

Description[edit]

It is a sweetened soft bread shaped like abun,often decorated withbone-shapedphalanxpieces.[2][3]Some traditions state that the rounded or domed top of the bread represents agrave.[3]Bread of the dead usually hasskullsorcrossbonesadded in extra dough.[4]The bones represent the deceased one (difuntosordifuntas), or perhaps bones coming out of a grave, there is normally a bakedteardrop on the bread to represent goddessChīmalmā's tears for the living.[3]The bones are often represented in a circle to portray thecircle of life.The bread is topped withsugar,sometimes white and sometimes dyed pink.[5]This bread can be found in Mexicangrocery storesin the U.S.

The classic recipe forpan de muertois a simplesweet breadrecipe, often with the addition ofaniseseeds, and other times flavored withorange flower wateror orangezest.[5]The bread often contains some fat, such asbutter.Its texture has been described as similar to that ofchallah,brioche,or falling between aconchaand ahamburger bun.[6][5][7][3]

Other variations are made depending on the region or the baker. The one baking the bread will usually wear decoratedwristbands,a tradition which was originally practiced to protect from burns on the stove or oven.

Pan de muerto is eaten on Día de Muertos, at thegravesiteor alternatively, at a domestic altar called anofrenda.[8]In some regions, it is eaten for months before the official celebration of Dia de Muertos. As part of the celebration, loved ones eat pan de muerto as well as the relative's favorite foods, but not those that have been placed on theofrenda.It is believed the spirits do not eat, but absorb its essence, along with water at their ofrenda, after their long journey back to Earth.[5]

History[edit]

Origin[edit]

The Day of the Dead is an example of Spanish-indigenous cultural mi xing. Wheat and the baking culture were introduced to America by the Spanish, so it is not uncommon to see that many classicMexican breads,such ascemita,pan bazoortelera,have their respective counterparts in Spain. For its part, thepan de muertohas its origin in thepan de ánimas('soul bread'),[9][10][11]avotiveproduct (an offering) that was formerly prepared for All Saints and Faithful Departed (November 1 and 2) in areas ofCastile,Portugal,AragonandSicily(among other places) to honor to deceased loved ones.[12][13][14][15]The parishioners came annually to the cemetery and put bread, wine and flowers on the graves.[16]The bread was blessed by the local priest, so it was also known aspan bendecido( "blessed bread" ).[12][17]During theViceroyalty of New Spain,thepan de ánimaswas used by the Spanish as an offering for their dead, and was assimilated by the indigenous people because of their pre-Hispanic beliefs.[18][19]At first, the breads produced in Mexico were crude and poorly developed doughs, but over time, the country strengthened its baking tradition by making increasingly refined pieces.[20]In certain Mexican states, such asPueblaorTlaxcala(both with noticeable Spanish influence),pan de muertosis still occasionally calledpan de ánimas.[21]

Folk History[edit]

A frequently repeated myth explains that the Mexican bread of the dead dates back to thepre-Hispanic custom of human sacrifice:"A maiden was offered to the gods, and they placed her still beating heart in a pot withamaranth,they had to bite it as a symbol of gratitude ".[22]Legend has it that theconquistadors,disgusted with the cannibalistic practice, forced the natives to replace the heart with a nice sweet bun.[23][24]Although this origin is not true, it serves to interpret the "ritual" meaning of the dead bread, since it is an allegory of the deceased person: the circular shape symbolizes the cycle of life and death; the ball of dough in the center is the skull, as well as the decoration that represents the bones, symbolically arranged in the shape of a cross. Thus, the bread comes to embody the dead person himself. In the words of José Luis Curiel Monteagudo: "Eating the dead is a true pleasure for the Mexican, it is considered the anthropophagy of bread and sugar. The phenomenon is assimilated with respect and irony, death is challenged, they make fun of it by eating it."[25]

Various Mexican public institutions omit the Hispano-Christian origin ofpan de muerto,attributing it to pre-Hispanic preparations. For example, theNational Institute of Indigenous Peoplesrelates the bread of the dead with thepapalotlaxcalli.According to the chronicles ofFray Bernardino de Sahagún,thepapalotlaxcalliwas literally a butterfly (papalotl)-shapedtortilla(tlaxcalli) that was offered to women who died in childbirth orCihuapipiltin.[26][27]Likewise, the blog of the Cuautitlán Izcalli University points out another possible ancestor of thepan de muerto,thehuitlatamalli,a votivetamale.[23]Thepapalotlaxcallias remote origin of the bread of the dead is a thesis defended by theGovernment of Mexicoon its website,[28]and it is the most widespread theory today.[29]The Spanishpan de ánimasis not mentioned at any time in the theories disclosed by these three entities. However, the very composition of the ingredients of thepan de muertoreveals its origin: wheat, cane sugar, cow's milk and butter, eggs and orange aroma. All these products arrived in America in what is known as the "Columbian exchange".According to Dr.Malvido (1999),although much weight has been given to pre-Hispanic ideas in the celebration of the Day of the Dead, the influence that the Spanish culture and Catholic religion has exerted in colonial Mexico is also very important. According to this author, in an essay published by theNational Institute of Anthropology and History:"continuing to think that [thepan de muerto] is a tradition of pre-Hispanic origin means that we did not understand anything, since it is profoundly Roman ".[27]With theindustrialization of Europe,the traditions ofpanes de ánimas('soul breads') disappeared from the Old Continent, but curiously the tradition is still alive on the other side of the ocean, in Mexico, as well as in theCentral Andes,where the bread of the dead is known asguaguaortanwawa.

Pan de muertosand other offerings on analtar de muertos

In this regard, Stanley Brandes, historian and anthropologist of Mexican culture (and in particular of the Day of the Dead), comments:

To the question of European vs indigenous origins, there can be no simple resolution until more extensive colonial sources come to light. For now, evidence indicates that the Mexican Day of the Dead is a colonial invention, a unique product of colonial demographic and economic processes. The principal types and uses of food on this holiday definitely derive from Europe. After all, there is notortilla de muertosbut ratherpan de muertos,just one highly significant detail. Nor did cane sugar exist in the Americas prior to the Spanish conquest. The existence of special breads and sugar based sweets, the custom of placing these and other food substances on gravesites and altars, and the practice of begging and other distributive mechanisms all derive from Spain. At the same time, the particular anthropomorphic form that Day of the Dead sweets assume is part of both Spanish and Aztec traditions. This combination of Spanish and indigenous culinary habits and tastes no doubt culminated in the ofrenda patterns we observe today. The ofrenda itself is probably Spanish, although it has long assumed significance in Mexico that far outstrips that in the mother country.

— Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead(2009), pg. 40., by Stanley Brandes[30]

20th and 21st centuries[edit]

Until the1970s and 1980s in the United States,pan de muertowas not common in celebrations of what was then largely calledAll Saints' Day,but the rise ofChicano cultural activismlead to an embrace of the bread, public altars, and the nameDia de los Muertos.[31]In Latin communities in Los Angeles, for example, many public altars serve as protests, such as those dedicated to the victims ofpolice brutality.[5]

With the rise of globalized cultural awareness starting in the 1990s, pan de muerto has become a cultural ambassador for Mexican popular culture. A 2019 Japanese exhibition at theNational Museum of Ethnologyon Mexican folk art, for example, included a baking demonstration and samples of the bread for visitors.[32]As a form of cultural outreach and collaboration with local communities, some American museums and institutions create public altars that include pan de muerto.[33][34]

Regional variations[edit]

InSan Andrés Mixquic,despeinadas(literally,unkempt or unbrushed ones) are made withsprinklesandsesameseeds.[35]

Muertes(deaths), made in theState of Mexico,are made with a mix of sweet and plain dough with a small amount ofcinnamon.Other types in the region includegorditas de maíz,aparejos de huevo(egg sinkers,apparently afterfishing weights) andhuesos(bones).[35]

InMichoacán,breads includepan de ofrenda(offering bread), the shinypan de hule(rubber bread), and corn-basedcorundas,made withtomato sauceandchile de árbol.[35]

InPuebla,and in diaspora communities, the bread often is coated with bright pink sugar.[7]Within Puebla, there are further regional specializations, with towns such as San Sebastián Zinacatepec known for baking pan de muerto.[36]

In popular culture[edit]

While the bread has always been an expression of popular religious celebrations, by the late 2010s,pan de muertohad become more known through several American pop culture representations. It appeared in the 2017 Pixar filmCoco,which broadened recognition of the bread outside the Mexican diaspora.[37][5]In the award-winningyoung adultnovelCemetery Boysby Latino-American authorAiden Thomas(2020),pan de muertois a central component in a Dia de los Muertos celebration.[38]

See also[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Malvido, Elsa (1999). "Ritos funerarios en el México colonial".Arqueología Mexicana.40(7): 46–51.

References[edit]

  1. ^Castella, Krystina (October 2010)."Pan de Muerto Recipe"."Epicurious".Archivedfrom the original on 8 July 2015.Retrieved7 July2015.
  2. ^Béligand, Nadine; Orensanz, Lucrecia (2007). "La muerte en la ciudad de México en el siglo XVIII".Historia Mexicana(in Spanish).57(1): 6.ISSN0185-0172.JSTOR25139765.
  3. ^abcdDelgadillo, Natalie (October 31, 2016)."The Treat That Defines L.A.'s Day of the Dead".Bloomberg CityLab.Archivedfrom the original on December 16, 2021.RetrievedDecember 15,2021.
  4. ^Brandes, Stanley (1998)."Iconography in Mexico's Day of the Dead: Origins and Meaning".Ethnohistory.45(2): 181–218.doi:10.2307/483058.ISSN0014-1801.JSTOR483058.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-09-30.Retrieved2022-07-28.
  5. ^abcdefMorales, Christina (2021-10-29)."To Feed the Dead, You First Need Pan de Muerto".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-16.Retrieved2021-12-16.
  6. ^Tecante, Alberto (2020-01-16), Nishinari, Katsuyoshi (ed.),"Textural Characteristics of Traditional Mexican Foods",Textural Characteristics of World Foods(1 ed.), Wiley, pp. 53–68,doi:10.1002/9781119430902.ch5,ISBN978-1-119-43069-8,S2CID214182252,archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-16,retrieved2021-12-16
  7. ^abWharton, Rachel (2013-10-29)."Pan de Muerto Is Bread That Gets Into the Spirit".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-16.Retrieved2021-12-16.
  8. ^Norget, Kristin (2021-07-14)."Popular-Indigenous Catholicism in Southern Mexico".Religions.12(7): 531.doi:10.3390/rel12070531.ISSN2077-1444.
  9. ^Guerrero Gómez, Gerardo, et al. (2009).La celebración del Día de Muertos en el estado de Guerrero(in Spanish). Ed. Sigla. pp.20.Otra ofrenda de alimentos era el pan de ánimas como se llama en Segovia, claro antecedente del pan de muerto que se consume actualmente en México{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^Muñoz Sánchez, Patricia (2001).Día de muertos en Chapingo: tradición, festejo y ritual de reencuentro con la memoria colectiva(in Spanish). Museo Nacional de Agricultura, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo. pp.34.El pan de muerto es otro componente imprescindible en las ofrendas. De origen europeo, en algunas regiones de España, el pan conocido como ánima o pan de muerto se depositaba en las tumbas. El antecedente del pan en el México (...)
  11. ^"Europa Medieval | México colonial"(PDF).Día de los muertos (Day of the dead).Museum of International Folk Art:6–7. 2017.Archived(PDF)from the original on 2022-10-02.Retrieved2022-07-01.(...) Una de estas tradiciones en el norte de España fue el pan, pan de ánimas o pan de alma, que se distribuyó a los pobres durante el mes de noviembre (...) A partir de esa fecha, los próximos 300 años de la colonia española en México, las personas tomaron reliquias de pan o de pasta de azúcar para ser bendecidas el 2 de noviembre en busca de protección y bendiciones para el año. Esta costumbre preparó el escenario para la tradición actual de calaveras de azúcar y la adición de pequeños huesos hechos de masa del tradicional pan de ánimas español, ahora conocido como pan de muertos.
  12. ^abHernández, Ángel Gil (2015-02-02).Libro Blanco del Pan(in Spanish). Ed. Médica Panamericana. pp.58.ISBN978-84-9835-505-5.
  13. ^De Hoyos Sainz, Luis (1945)."Folklore español del culto a los muertos".Revista de dialectología y tradiciones populares.I(1, 2). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas: 30–53.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-02-27.Retrieved2022-07-28.
  14. ^Kalish, Richard (2019).Death and Dying: Views from Many Cultures.Routledge. pp.125–128.ISBN978-1-351-84489-5.
  15. ^Nicolau, Antoni; Zimmermann, Simone; Bernardette Amouretti, Marie-Claire (2001).Sacred foods: bread, wine and oil in the ancient Mediterranean(in Catalan, English, and Spanish). Barcelona:City History Museum,Institute of Culture,City Council of Barcelona.pp. 105–106.ISBN84-932113-2-X.OCLC48639106.
  16. ^Salles Manuel, Marcelo (2005-02-28). "La Conquista y la Colonia. El sincretismo".Conocimiento prehispánico de la muerte.Plaza y Valdés.ISBN978-970-722-371-4.Según Scheffler (1999), con la fusión de las culturas prehispánica y española, el culto a la muerte se eliminó casi por completo, pero el culto a los muertos perduró con un sincretismo bien marcado. Según esta autora, hay investigadores hispánicos que señalan que en la península Ibérica, durante el siglo XVI, se hacía una visita anual al cementerio y se colocaba pan, vino y flores en las sepulturas. En la celebración de Todos Santos, se preparó una comida en recuerdo de los muertos. En Salamanca y León se repartía el "pan de muerto" entre los pobres y en Segovia el día de los Fieles Difuntos se les daba "pan de ánimas".
  17. ^Villodas, Manuel (1796).Analisis de las antiguedades eclesiasticas de España, para instruccion de los jovenes: comprehende los sucesos mas notables de los once siglos primeros(in Spanish). Oficina de la Viuda é Hijos de Santander. pp.183.
  18. ^Corkovic, Laura M. (2012).La cultura indígena en la fotografía mexicana de los 90s(in Spanish). Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. pp.292.ISBN978-84-9012-143-6.El antecesor del pan de muertos es el pan de ánimas originado en Segovia. El pan de ánimas fue utilizado por los conquistadores para ofrendar a sus muertos durante el virreinato y fue asimilado por los indígenas por sus creencias prehispánicas
  19. ^Banda, Domingo (2021-11-02)."Pan de muerto: Una dulce tradición".La Prensa de Houston(in Spanish).Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-23.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  20. ^"¿Cuál es la historia del Pan de Muerto?".Muy Interesante(in Spanish). 2021-10-06.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-01.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  21. ^"Tipos de pan de muerto en México".Larousse Cocina(in Spanish).Archivedfrom the original on 2022-05-19.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  22. ^"La historia del pan de muerto".Revista Chilango(in Spanish). 2014-10-29.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-09-19.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  23. ^ab"Pan de Muerto: ¿Quién lo inventó, de dónde vino?".Universidad de Cuautitlán Izcalli.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-10-07.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  24. ^"El Pan de Muerto".Universidad de Oriente Cancún(in Spanish). 2018-10-23.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-10-28.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  25. ^Kurczyn, Silvia (1999)."Los mexicanos muertos de placer, por Curiel Monteagudo, J. L."Azucarados Afanes, Dulces y Panes:63.ISBN9789687533186.Archivedfrom the original on 2024-02-27.Retrieved2022-07-28.
  26. ^"El Pan de muerto, este es su origen y sus variedades en México".W Radio México(in Mexican Spanish). 2020-10-29.Archivedfrom the original on 2022-05-16.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  27. ^abMartínez, Alonso (2020-10-01)."El (supuesto) origen caníbal del Pan de Muerto".GQ(in Mexican Spanish).Archivedfrom the original on 2022-08-08.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  28. ^"El origen del pan de muerto y las variedades regionales actuales".Government of Mexico(in Spanish).Archivedfrom the original on 2022-11-02.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  29. ^Lucía, Melgosa (2021-11-02)."Pan de muerto mexicano, ¡está de muerte!".Información Gastronómica(in Spanish).Archivedfrom the original on 2021-11-02.Retrieved2022-07-01.
  30. ^Brandes, Stanley (2009).Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead: The Day of the Dead in Mexico and Beyond.John Wiley & Sons. pp.40.ISBN978-1-4051-7870-9.
  31. ^Marchi, Regina (2013). "Hybridity and Authenticity in US Day of the Dead Celebrations".The Journal of American Folklore.126(501): 277.doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.126.501.0272.ISSN0021-8715.S2CID145305495.
  32. ^Osorio Sunnucks, Laura; Levell, Nicola; Shelton, Anthony; Suzuki, Motoi; Isaac, Gwyneira; Marsh, Diana E. (2020-07-01)."Interruptions: Challenges and Innovations in Exhibition-Making: The Second World Museologies Workshop, National Museum of Ethnology (MINPAKU), Osaka, December 2019".Museum Worlds.8(1): 168–187.doi:10.3167/armw.2020.080112.ISSN2049-6729.S2CID229543070.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-09.Retrieved2021-12-16.Furthermore, Suzuki also emphasized the importance of multisensory installations and programming, and echoed Nakamura in feeling that these creative elements in the exhibition could communicate the language of Mexican culture sensorially rather than visually.… Suzuki described his delight when part of his museum became a bakery for making pan de muerto ( "Day of the Dead bread" ), and talked about his transformation from curator to baker.
  33. ^Isaac, Gwyneira; Bojorquez, April; Nichols, Catherine (2012). "Dying to Be Represented: Museums and Día de los Muertos Collaborations".Collaborative Anthropologies.5(1): 28–63.doi:10.1353/cla.2012.0001.ISSN2152-4009.
  34. ^Davis, Kenneth G. (2006). "Dead Reckoning or Reckoning with The Dead: Hispanic Catholic Funeral Customs".Liturgy.21(1): 21–27.doi:10.1080/04580630500285964.ISSN0458-063X.S2CID145419815.
  35. ^abc"Pan de muerto: una sabrosa tradición"[Pan de muerto: a tasty tradition].Vivir Mexico(in Spanish). October 26, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon May 9, 2016.RetrievedMay 13,2016.
  36. ^Licona Valencia, Ernesto (2014)."Un sistema de intercambio híbrido: el mercado/tianguis La Purísima, Tehuacán-Puebla, México".Antípoda. Revista de Antropología y Arqueología(in Spanish) (18): 137–163.doi:10.7440/antipoda18.2014.07.ISSN1900-5407.
  37. ^Avila, Jacqueline (2020). "Memorias de oro: Music, Memory, and Mexicanidad in Pixar's Coco (2017)".Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal.29(1): 1–23.doi:10.1353/ame.2020.0009.ISSN2768-1858.S2CID241795474.
  38. ^Gillis, Bryan (September 2021). "The honor list of 2020 prize-winning young adult books: Cultural knowledge in YA literature".English Journal, High School Edition.111(1): 71–76 – via ProQuest.

External links[edit]

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