Semana Santa
Holy Week - the week between Palm Sunday & Easter Sunday

April 1st through April 7th, 2007

Semana Santa celebrates the last days of the life of Christ while Pascua celebrates the Passion of Christ, and the Resurrection. Mexico is nearly 90 percent Catholic, so this religious holiday takes on a special meaning that the entire community shares and participates in. Throughout the two weeks Mexico celebrates with Passion Plays, Processions, carnivals, and of course food. Semana Santa is Mexico's second most important holiday season of the year, behind only Christmas.

All of Mexico celebrates Semana Santa, but certain cities and villages are better known for celebrating the holiday, and often provide reenactments of the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion on the cross. The best known cities are Ixtapalapa (in Mexico City), Pátzcuaro, San Cristobal de las Casas (Chiapas), and Taxco. Smaller and silent torch lit processions, Processión del Silencio, also take place in Aguascalientes and San Luis Potosí.

Each community celebrates the holiday with it's own regional flavor, however, popular with the whole country is the breaking of cascarones, colored egg shells filled with confetti, over friends and family. Churches will be filled with those attending Mass on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and families will take this opportunity to be together.

The most moving event of Semana Santa is the reenactment of the Passion of Christ, or the Passion Play. The event's in the mentioned cities are sponsored by religious or community groups, and can include large processions of penitents, sometimes on their knees, a portrayal of the last supper and the crucifixion itself.

In many cities, important religious images from the church will be displayed, traditional altars are decorated at home and in the streets, and flower decorations and palm crosses will be found everywhere. The central colonial cities seem to celebrate this holiday with the most reverence and tradition, and if you wish to see the beauty of traditional Mexico, Semana Santa would be well worth seeing for yourself. Look below and try out this traditional Mexican recipe:

Pambazos

Every region of Mexico has its own beloved street foods, and pambazos seem to be especially favored in parts of Puebla and Veracruz. Although the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows falls on a meatless Lenten Friday, pambazos are still enjoyed, with many vendors substituting quesillo- string cheese- for the chicken. The savory sauce that drenches the rolls, and the sliced avocado and onion garnishes, make these more than just ordinary sandwiches. Along with a salad, they make a good light supper. Pambazos are softer than regular Mexican bolillos, so use bread rolls, sometimes known as peasant bread, rather than French rolls. The sauce may be frozen in small containers for quick meals as needed.

Ingredients for the pambazos:

• 8 soft rolls, split and hollowed out slightly
• 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded, or shredded Oaxaca or string cheese
• 2 avocados, peeled and sliced
• 1 large white onion, sliced into thin rings
• 1 recipe pambazo sauce, below

Ingredients for the sauce:

• 1 pound plum tomatoes
• 2 ½ ounces guajillo chiles, seeded and deveined
• 1/8 teaspoon cumin
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 whole allspice berries
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• ½ stick cinnamon
• ½ medium white onion, peeled and grated
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 ½ tablespoons corn oil
• salt to taste
• Preparation:Make the sauce by placing the tomatoes, chiles and spices in a medium saucepan with water just to cover. Boil until the tomatoes are soft, liquefy in a blender, push through a sieve or food mill, and set aside.

• Heat the oil, add the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat until softened. Add strained tomato mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.

  Assemble the sandwiches by filling the rolls with the chicken or cheese, ladling warm sauce over all, and topping with the avocado and onion.
  Makes 8 sandwiches.

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