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While many in the community may already have taken down trees and decorations, Mexican families across Boulder County continue to celebrate Christmas traditions. Today is the date that observes the arrival of the three kings, or the three wise men, to pay homage to baby Jesus in the Christmas story of the Catholic tradition.
The day is celebrated in countries across Latin America as well as Spain and Puerto Rico, and it is something Mexican families in Longmont hold close to their hearts and keep alive in their traditions.
Such is the case of Rocio Ramirez, a Longmont resident and mother of seven, who celebrates the three wise men every year.
“What we celebrate is the three kings arriving to see baby Jesus,” she said. “We like to keep the tradition alive and get together as a family to have dinner and share, it is above all a day to share as a family.”
For dinner, Ramirez will prepare tostadas with tinga, a traditional Mexican spicy shredded chicken dish, to be followed by the traditional rosca de reyes, or Kings Bread, a baked good that originated in Europe in the Middle Ages and arrived in Mexico during the Spanish conquest.
According to a story about the recipe, the round shape of the rosca represents God’s love adorned by crystallized fruit that represents the jewels on the crowns of the three kings. The rosca is stuffed with one or many hidden baby figurines that represent the baby Jesus.
“We celebrate with the rosca, a traditional bread that has Jesus figurines inside, and whoever gets the figure has to make tamales for the Feast of Candelaria, (a celebration observing the appearance of the Virgin of la Candelaria in Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the southwest of Spain at the beginning of the 15th century),” said Ramirez, adding she gets her Kings Bread from her sister, Jenny Ramirez, owner of Sinaloense Bakery in Colorado Springs.
Rosca de Reyes'baked by Sinaloense Bakery in Colorado Springs to be brought to costumers in Longmont. Courtesy photo. “Since yesterday we’ve had lines of people outside our doors waiting to get in and the phone has been ringing nonstop with people placing orders for the rosca,” Jenny Ramirez said. “We send roscas to people in Wisconsin, Chicago and California … We have many clients in Longmont because we know many people there since we live in Firestone, so we take many roscas up there every year, too.”
Rubi Lara, owner of Panaderia Guanajuato — a bakery and groceries store selling Mexican products that also specializes in Kings Bread — said in recent years it has sold more than 600 roscas Jan. 5 and 6.
“This year I think we are going to sell even more,” she said. “There has been more consumption this year because we started baking them on Jan. We offer different kinds, some filled with guayaba, some with cheese, others with strawberry or pineapple, and they are made very specially with our very own recipe and ingredients. … I am very proud of my baker.”
A native of Guanajuato, Lara, who has been living in Longmont for close to 20 years, has been keeping up with a tradition she knows many in the community observe and celebrate.
“This tradition is very important for me,” she said. “We make a lot of families who are celebrating this tradition with their children very happy. Last year we even had the three kings come and meet families outside our shop, this year we couldn’t do that because of COVID.”
Maria Almanza this morning picked up a large rosca at Panaderia Guanajuato measuring close to 30 inches long. She will share it this evening with her family including her parents, Jesus Manuel and Juanita, who are visiting for the holidays from her native town in Chihuahua, Mexico.
“I’m thrilled because my parents are with me this year at my home and I came to get the rosca to eat after dinner. We are preparing barbacoa this year for dinner,” she said.
Maria Almanza buying a large 'rosca' for dinner with her family to celebrate the three wise men on Jan. 6. Photo by Silvia Solis. Even having lived in Longmont for 19 years, Almanza continues to celebrate the three wise men every year.
“This date has always been very important for me since I was little because I would wait every year to see what the three wise men would bring me in the morning,” she said, adding for many Mexican families this is a date during which children wake up to see gifts under the tree brought by the kings.
“I remember getting the best gift when I was 5 or 6, it was a very big ball,” she said. “It was huge and that’s why I was so happy with it, and it had all kinds of colors, like the rainbow, which is why it grabbed my attention.”
Almanza said this is a tradition she wishes she could share with the larger community so others could take part in the rosca and its meaning.
“For us as Mexicans this is a very important tradition, it is part of our history, and we want to remember it.”
