Dia de los Reyes Magos | History
This is the first time we will be celebrating Dia de los Reyes as a family. Honestly I hadn’t really known about this holiday until last year. Our friends brought over a Rosca de Reyes cake and explained this tradition to us.
Dia de Reyes is celebrated on January 6th and is the 12th day after Christmas, officially marking the end of the holiday festivities. Just like Santa Claus is the traditional character to bring gifts on Christmas, in Latin America, the three wise men are the ones to bring gifts for children, just like the three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus.
Rosca de Reyes is a sweet bread that is supposed to resemble a crown, with fruit that resembles rubies or jewels. On this day it’s tradition to get together with family have a meal, and share a Rosca de Reyes. There’s a small plastic baby hidden inside. Just like the location of Jesus also needed to be kept hidden so his life would be spared, no one knows who will get the piece with the baby figurine.
Whoever ends up with the baby figurine has to host a big meal with tamales and atole on Feb 2nd, Dia de la Candelaria. Yes, it does seem like there’s always a party going on…but I’m not complaining.
The tradition is for kids to leave out a shoe with carrots or grass for the camels, and it will be replaced with some candy. Usually the day before the kids create little baskets, which they leave next to their bed. A gift brought by the wise men is then left inside or next to the basket.
This year since my kids got plenty of gifts for Christmas, we’re going to be talking about how they can use their gifts or talents or skills to share with others to bring glory to God. They did end up leaving a shoe out with carrots, (we don’t have that much grass) that was filled with some goodies. I made tamales again, as well as my own Rosca de Reyes. I followed a recipe from Muy Bueno and just modified it a little. My son, doesn’t really like a lot of sweets, and really hates when things are sticky, so I skipped the fruit, and the glazed topping, and both the kids LOVED this bread. I definitely recommend it. It’s been fun sharing all of these new traditions and recipes with my family.
I’d love to know what you do for this holiday. Leave a comment below!
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