In Mexico, January 6 is highly anticipated by everyone, because it marks El DТa de los Reyes, or Three Kings Day. This day celebrates the day when the wise men visited the baby Jesus. Children receive gifts as a reminder that the wise men presented gifts to the baby Jesus. Family and friends gather to share food, including a sweet yeast bread called the Rosca de Reyes.
The Rosca is decorated with dried figs and dates and formed into a round shape to symbolize the crowns worn by the wise men. There is a small plastic figure hidden inside that represents the baby Jesus. Hiding the figure reminds us that Jesus’s birth was a secret at the time. Joseph and Mary had to hide the baby Jesus from King Herod’s campaign to get rid of all the male babies in Bethlehem.
Everyone must have a slice of the Rosca, and if you happen to find the figure of the baby Jesus in your piece of cake, it’s your obligation—or privilege—to host the next party on February 2, El DТa de la Candelaria (or Candlemas), the celebration that ends the holidays of Christmas.
Rocio Barbosa, mother of two girls lives in Round Rock.
