In the midst of shopping for that just right gift for your loved ones, if you’re Latino, you’re also shopping for hay, coconut milk and frozen fruit. That’s because a Latino Christmas includes some traditions carried on from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America and Spain that require some unique items that can be found throughout the city.
As multicultural and multi-generational households continue to grow across the state, native Iowans and Latinos are combining their Christmas customs to include a midnight mass before tearing into gifts, or tamales along side their turkey. There are several places around the Metro to order tamales with a variety of fillings. Most cost $15 per dozen and are big enough that most adults can get full eating two, although you’ll most likely want to eat more because they are so delicious!
La Rosa’s Mexican Restaurant at 2312 Forest Avenue in the Drake neighborhood specializes in pork in red sauce tamales. Their tamales won the tamale contest at Iowa’s Latino Heritage Festival two years in a row. The tamales are always handmade fresh daily and if you get there at the right time, you’ll see Rosa herself making the tamales and piling them up for the day. They are open most days from 10-7 but make sure to order your tamales at least a week in advance, earlier if you’re order more than 1 or 2 dozen.
For more variety, including non-meat, visit Tamales Industry at 2728 2nd Avenue on the city’s North Side offering cheese and chile, chicken with green salsa, pork with red salsa, and dessert tamales in orange, pineapple and strawberry flavors. The dessert tamales are heavenly with a mug of hot chocolate, especially Abuelita brand Mexican Spiced cocoa, available at Mexican grocery stores and Wal-Mart.
During the nine days before Christmas, you may also get a knock on your door from Mary and Joseph as Mexicans and Central Americans participate in Las Posadas, a traveling group of singers led by a male and female dressed as Mary and Joseph with a specific song that asks for room at your ‘inn’. There is a customary response from the people who are visited and in the end the weary travelers are welcome to lodge in the barn. In Des Moines, various churches, such at Las Americas Trinity United Methodist Church at 1548 8th Street organize a Posada that ends with a potluck and piñata for the kids.
You may notice that some Latino households have a small Christmas tree but a very elaborate Nativity Scene. The Nativity Scenes hand-crafted in Mexico can be made from various materials like wood, clay or porcelain. They can cost anywhere from $20 USD to $200+USD for ones that include real gold or silver.
No holiday of any culture is complete without savory dishes reserved for this special time. Latino tables will usually feature some roasted meat, most often turkey, chicken or pork, a rice dish, some kind of salad, tamales or, if you’re from the Caribbean you’re most likely serving pasteles, like tamales only made with plantains and wrapped in banana leaves. There are special drinks enjoyed only at this time of year as well. One popular drink from Puerto Rico is called coquito, most often compared to egg nog, it’s made with coconut milk, condensed milk, rum and cinnamon and is served cold. The recipe can be found here. If you prefer something warm, a Mexican fruit punch called Ponche might be for you. Combining various dried, frozen or fresh fruits like guava, tamarind and apples with orange juice, cloves and brandy will fill your house with a fabulous warmth and aroma that will make you want to boil up a batch everyday. You can find bags of frozen fruit specifically for ponche at any of the three La Tapatia locations across Des Moines: 1440 Des Moines Street, 4007 SE 13th Street and on Merle Hay Rd., 2-3 blocks south of the mall.
Music plays just as important a role as the food. There are several Spanish holiday songs derived from the various Latin American countries like La Bala from El Salvador, Navidad Sin Ti from Costa Rica, and the world- famous Feliz Navidad from Puerto Rico. These songs are sometimes played live at family functions, accompanied by guitars, maracas, guiros and bongos. You can hear a mix of Spanish and English Christmas songs by selecting Navideño Radio on www.batanga.com, or, for Spanish-only songs, tune in to La Ley radio on 105.5 FM that covers most of Central Iowa.
As you salsa to some Latin jams, make sure to get ready for the Epiphany, also known as Three King’s Day, or Día de los Reyes, the day most Latin Americans celebrate even more than Christmas. Celebrated on January 6th – giving you a chance to catch those post-Christmas clearance toys- Latino children fill shoeboxes with hay meant for the camels that carried the three kings to see baby Jesus. They place the boxes at the foot of their bed, or sometimes under their bed, and in return the kids get toys. Families gather around a Rosca de Reyes, a doughnut-shaped cake with a little baby Jesus figurine baked inside. The belief is that the person who gets the baby in their piece of cake will have good luck, or a wish granted that year. In Mexico, that tradition is taken further and the lucky person gets to host a tamale dinner on Día de la Candelaria, or Candle Mass on February 2nd. You can find Roscas de Reyes at Lara’s Bakery at 1880 NW 86th Street in Clive, Pasteleria Mendez at 1534 E. Grand Ave., and Raquel’s Bakery at 1521 E. Grand Ave.
As you shop for your tamales, coconut milk, rum and brandy, make sure to pick up some gifts from some of the Latino merchants in the area. Coffee lovers will appreciate a gift certificate from Ritual Café (1301 Locust), the only place in the Metro that offers Mayan Mochas and Horchata Lattes. For the fashion lover, visit Modas Marilyn at 1420 SE 14th Street for some affordable and fashionable duds for men and women. Foodies will enjoy a gift certificate from any of the Mexican grocery stores or bakeries listed above, or a unique dining experience at Ecuadorean eatery Mi Patria (1410 22nd Street) or Salvadoran delicacies at El Salvador Del Mundo at 2901 6th Ave. If you have a lover of all sweets, pick out a Latin American candy or some frozen fruit pops at Paleteria Michoacana on SE 16th and Grand, or the Latino party and candy store at 1552 East Grand Ave.
¡Feliz Navidad!
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