El Restaurante Mexicano
Sept.-Oct. 2004
Day of the Dead promotions
Source Guide
Recipe Reference
Atole de Piña
Calabaza Dulce
Sweet Tamales
(Mark Miller)
(Karen Hursh Graber)
(¡Una Mas!)
Pan de Muerto
Sugar Candies
T'ant'a Wawas
Day of the Dead
Rosita's teaches El Día de Los Muertos traditions
©2004 Maiden Name Press LLC
When customers visit Rosita's Mexican Food Restaurants in Tempe and Mesa, Ariz. from Oct. 27 through Nov. 3 this year, they'll find more than the fare for which the eateries are known.
They'll see wall art and hanging plastic skeletons created by students from Kyrene Middle School in Tempe lining the entryway and dining room walls — all numbered and marked with the artists' names so diners can vote on their favorite pieces.
They'll view sugar skulls handmade and decorated by the 6th, 7th and 8th graders gracing the commemorative altars that also include candles, food, flowers, and pictures of employees' loved ones, and clients who have passed away.
They'll be greeted by staff in skeleton-themed costumes and Mexican fiesta dress.
And they'll sit at tables topped with special paper placemats designed with snippets of information about this important Hispanic
fall holiday.
It's all part of Rosita's El Día de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) celebration, an event owner Barbara Keeme
and marketing director Jan Kirkaldy organize annually to teach guests and employees the meaning behind Mexican cultural traditions.
"This is our fifth year holding a Day of the Dead celebration. It's an awsome thing, and it just keeps growing every year!" Kirkaldy reports.
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El Día de Los Muertos is a tradition that combines Aztec, Mayan and Spanish beliefs about death, and is a time Hispanics remember departed friends and family members. The celebration dates to the eighth century, when the church decreed Nov. 1 as All Saints Day — "an attempt to replace the 2000-year-old tradition of the Celts and their Druid priests who combined harvest festivals and celebrated the new year on Nov. 1," a story by Judy King at www.mexconnect.com says. Around the end of the first millennium, the church, trying to cover the Celtic tradition, named Nov. 2 All Souls' Day — a day people dressed as saints, angels and devils and celebrated with bonfires and parades. But the Mexican people, used to two-month celebrations honoring death, the fall harvest and the new year, had other ideas. "For more than 500 years, the goddess Mictecacihuatl (Lady of the Dead) presided over Aztec harvest rituals using fires and incense, costumes of animal skins, images of their dead, and offerings of ceramics, personal goods, foods, drink and flowers," King writes. "When the church attempted to transform the joyous celebration into a suitably tragic image of death and a serious day of prayer focusing attention and reflection on the saints and martyrs, the people of Mexico did not fully adopt the early priests' ideas. By keeping their familiar ceremonies, All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day evolved into the celebrations that today honor the dead with color, candles, and joy."
Today in Mexico, mid-October finds families, shop owners, bakeries, florists, and candlemakers getting ready to welcome the dead on their journey back to visit loved ones. "Traditionally, the 'angelitos' (souls of children who have died) are celebrated on Nov. 1, All Saints' Day," information from Rosita's says. "On Nov. 2, All Souls' Day, those adults who have passed on are honored, thus incorporating certain pre-Hispanic customs into Christian practices."
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Incorporating the customs that are integral aspects of El Día de Los Muertos can generate business and publicity for Mexican and other Latin eateries during the Halloween time frame, as Rosita's has discovered.
Creating an ofrenda (altar) in each restaurant, for example, got both customers and staff involved. "I asked some of my clients to bring in photos of loved ones who used to come to Rosita's and have passed," notes Kirkaldy, who says staff members also contributed pictures of deceased family members and friends.
A notice about the Día de Los Muertos art competition appeared in the middle school's newsletter. And when a local network affiliate learned Rosita's had sponsored the middle school contest, they told Kirkaldy they wanted to cover the story. "I asked one of the art teachers to come in and bring some students and their families. Channel 5 came in and interviewed the students and the art teacher," she recalls. The local Hispanic television station also filed a report, she adds.
The skull-making project, though not a contest, also has proven a success. The first year, Rosita's bought pre-made skulls and had the students decorate them. Since then, Rosita's buys supplies and lets the kids make the skulls from scratch. "In order to keep the handling of the sugar skulls to a minimum, the skulls are not part of the art contest," Kirkaldy explains. Students who create skulls for display in the restaurant typically are treated in their classrooms to lunch from Rosita's, she notes.
And asking staff to dress in skeleton-themed or other Mexican apparel created a festive atmosphere and served as an employee incentive, too. For every shift an employee wore a costume, he or she banked five free employee meals. By the second week of November, cards with the number of free employee meals each person banked were sent to each restaurant and employees could begin redeeming them any time, Kirkaldy says.
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Your customers might enjoy learning about these words and phrases commonly used for Day of the Dead events. Why not include them on a special Day of the Dead menu, or on an inexpensive print-out set at each table during your Día de Los Muertos celebration?
Alfeñique de Día de Los Muertos: sweets made of sugar, typically in the shape of sugar skulls.
Atole: a gruel sweetened and flavored with crushed fruits and sugar, and thickened with masa.
Calaveras: candied skulls, usually made of sugar or chocolate, rarely eaten; also satirical verses and/or obituaries.
Cempasúchil: orange-yellow marigold flower, favored for decorations. Also spelled Zempasœchil.
Cielo: the sky, or heaven. Represented by a piece of fabric or plastic draped overhead, above the table (ofrenda).
Copal: resin from tropical trees. Burning it as incense dates back to pre-Hispanic times.
Dulce de Calabaza: candied pumpkin.
La Catrina: a female skeleton with the chapeau and dress of the 19th century grande dame; represents death which can catch you any where and anytime.
La Noche de Duelo: the beginning of the Day of the Dead, with a candlelight procession to the cemetery. Literally, "The Night of The Mourning."
Los Angelitos: children who have died and are now remembered on the All Saints' Day feast. Literally, "little angels".
Ofrenda: The table or area decorated to hold the offerings (food, beverage, candies, etc.) for the spirits.
Ollas: pottery made for cooking.
Todos Santos: All Saints' Day
Pan de Muerto: bread of the dead. A sweet, rich
bread or coffee cake decorated with dough or meringues (made to look like bones), skull-shaped candies and sweets.
Source: www.questconnect.org
