Share Rosca de Reyes to Wish for Family Harmony / 🇲🇽 Mexico

Mexico’s Rosca de Reyes is a ring-shaped festive bread served on January 6. A little figure of the Christ Child is hidden in it. Whoever finds the figure takes on the role of host for a gathering with tamales on February 2, Día de la Candelaria. The happy surprise at the first table gives the group a reason to sit down together a second time.

1. Arrange a time to share a rosca on January 6. Look for the ring-shaped bread with candied fruit, or prepare one using a recipe you trust.
2. Before slicing, tell everyone about the figure. Remove it as soon as it appears and keep it away from small children. Serve the bread with hot chocolate if you like.
3. When someone finds the figure, tell them what they have drawn: the invitation to bring the same people together over tamales.
4. Pick the date of February 2 for the second meeting if it suits the group. Decide together how to serve the tamales and what to drink with them.

A small rosca works as well as a big one for bringing people into the conversation. Let the bread and the second invitation have their own moments.

Sharing the bread reached Mexico from Spain. In older versions, a bean could be hidden in the dough. In Mexico, the bean made way for small figures, first of materials such as porcelain and later commonly of plastic. The shape is often likened to the crown of the Three Kings. Candied fruit gives it the festive appearance that makes it easy to spot on a table.

The calendar is part of what makes the Mexican custom memorable. A slice in January makes someone the person who gathers the group in February. Chocolate can accompany the bread at the first meeting; atole is a familiar drink beside the tamales at the second. A surprise in a piece of bread becomes the beginning of another invitation.