By Elena Espitia
On June 23 1900 my great grandmother Paulina Castillo holds her new born son in her arms. She knows that as her only child the responsibility and privilege of passing down years of Mexican and Aztec tradition will fall on Juan Pablo Castillo.
Although my great grandfather Andres Castillo was a Spaniard the pride of Paulina’s heritage overshadowed most of his cultural background. And while my grandpa grew up eating his mother tamales, caldo and guisados he would share pan de higo with his father. To any Mexican including my mother pan de higo or Spanish fig cake tasted too bland. I like to think it reminded my grandfather of his dad and the Spanish heritage he had.
At age 11 Juan Pablo left home to become a messenger for the Mexican army in the Mexican Revolution. After five years of carrying messages and risking his life spying on the other side the war ended and Pablo returned home.
Although my great grandfather Andres Castillo was a Spaniard the pride of Paulina’s heritage overshadowed most of his cultural background. And while my grandpa grew up eating his mother tamales, caldo and guisados he would share pan de higo with his father. To any Mexican including my mother pan de higo or Spanish fig cake tasted too bland. I like to think it reminded my grandfather of his dad and the Spanish heritage he had.
At age 11 Juan Pablo left home to become a messenger for the Mexican army in the Mexican Revolution. After five years of carrying messages and risking his life spying on the other side the war ended and Pablo returned home.
My grandfather led a hard life and he spent his years working hard for his family. He married my grandmother Juanita Medrano and started a family in Nuevo Laredo Mexico. In 1960 he moved his family to Alice Texas and opened a convenience store where he spent years rising and supporting his family.
In the craziness of trying to raise seven kids in a one stop light town as my mom calls it, Pablo remembered his mother and his heritage and made sure to bring that into his humble home.
Despite how hard my grandfather worked it wasn’t enough to escape the poverty they lived in. The foods my mother ate growing up were simple. And at times only consisted of beans and tortillas. But my grandfather wanted more for his children .As the eldest child my mother worked hard to help him in his old age with shipments for his store. My mother was rewarded with tacos or candy or pan dulce and in that day it was truly a luxury.
But when money was tight and pan dulce and tacos were just a daydream my grandfather making his mother’s tamales and capirotada it was a special time in the Castillo household.
In the craziness of trying to raise seven kids in a one stop light town as my mom calls it, Pablo remembered his mother and his heritage and made sure to bring that into his humble home.
Despite how hard my grandfather worked it wasn’t enough to escape the poverty they lived in. The foods my mother ate growing up were simple. And at times only consisted of beans and tortillas. But my grandfather wanted more for his children .As the eldest child my mother worked hard to help him in his old age with shipments for his store. My mother was rewarded with tacos or candy or pan dulce and in that day it was truly a luxury.
But when money was tight and pan dulce and tacos were just a daydream my grandfather making his mother’s tamales and capirotada it was a special time in the Castillo household.
As all Mexican Catholics know religion is a huge part of our culture. It isn’t something that is easily separated. The season of lent was a sacred time for my grandfather and his family. For Mexicans, it is a time to be selfless and humble. To the Castillo’s it was a time to be even humbler.
The mirrors in the house were covered to discourage vanity. And the few sweets they managed to get were no longer allowed to be eaten. In Mexico our ancestors would make a pilgrimage to the wilderness for 40 days and live off the land. Although my mother and her very Mexican family didn’t make the pilgrimage they adopted the diet. Eating legumes like beans,lentils, garbanzos and flor de palma (an edible flower), and of course nopales.
At the end of lent my grandpa made capirotada. Similar to a bread pudding Pablo made it the way his mother had taught him every lent.
Capirotada is traditionally made on Good Friday. Each ingredient is a representation of the suffering of Christ. The bread symbolizes the body of Christ, the tea is his blood, the cloves are the nails on the cross, the whole cinnamon sticks are the wood of the cross and the melted cheese represents the holy shroud.
To Pablo every Lenten season making capirotada brought part of his mother back to him, and his culture and tradition to his family.
The mirrors in the house were covered to discourage vanity. And the few sweets they managed to get were no longer allowed to be eaten. In Mexico our ancestors would make a pilgrimage to the wilderness for 40 days and live off the land. Although my mother and her very Mexican family didn’t make the pilgrimage they adopted the diet. Eating legumes like beans,lentils, garbanzos and flor de palma (an edible flower), and of course nopales.
At the end of lent my grandpa made capirotada. Similar to a bread pudding Pablo made it the way his mother had taught him every lent.
Capirotada is traditionally made on Good Friday. Each ingredient is a representation of the suffering of Christ. The bread symbolizes the body of Christ, the tea is his blood, the cloves are the nails on the cross, the whole cinnamon sticks are the wood of the cross and the melted cheese represents the holy shroud.
To Pablo every Lenten season making capirotada brought part of his mother back to him, and his culture and tradition to his family.
But in the spring of 1972 after a long day of work on Holy Thursday Pablo never let his tie to his mother and his homeland wavier. He spent another hour and a half after his family had gone to sleep making capirotada so it would be ready for Good Friday. Alone he worked in the kitchen steeping the tea, buttering the bread, and assembling the dish. He waited another thirty minute until it was done baking. After placing the hot pan on top of the oven he covered it with a kitchen towel. Turned off the lights and went to bed.
That morning my mother woke up to my grandmothers screams. My grandfather had died in his sleep. The capirotada, his last labor of love for his family stayed on the oven untouched. Unwilling to let his work go to waste his children cried as the ate every bite of the last thing their father would ever give them.
Every lent I would watch my mother cook this dish and package a portion for her siblings. I watched my mother get more and more tired through the years but her devotion to her father and their tradition never wavered. She stayed up late into the night mirroring the image of her father who mirrored his mother waiting on this food that now meant so much more.
That morning my mother woke up to my grandmothers screams. My grandfather had died in his sleep. The capirotada, his last labor of love for his family stayed on the oven untouched. Unwilling to let his work go to waste his children cried as the ate every bite of the last thing their father would ever give them.
Every lent I would watch my mother cook this dish and package a portion for her siblings. I watched my mother get more and more tired through the years but her devotion to her father and their tradition never wavered. She stayed up late into the night mirroring the image of her father who mirrored his mother waiting on this food that now meant so much more.
I was 15 the first time I made capirotada by myself. For the past six years and a couple weeks from now I will make this dish that means so much to my mother. For almost 200 years maybe more this dish has been in my family and I plan to continue this tradition. I wonder if my great grandmother Paulina had long black hair like me or what my grandfather would have told me if I ever had the chance to meet him and I wonder how far back the recipe I am making really goes. And although I’ll never get answers to these questions I know what this recipe means to me now. Every time I make this dish I share special moments in the kitchen with my mother seeing the pride and happiness in her eyes because she knows I won’t let this part of my grandfather fade away.
Capirotada brings me closer to the family I never knew and really teaches me that no matter what you are cooking if it’s something you just threw together or a recipe that is centuries old the most important ingredient will always be love.
Capirotada brings me closer to the family I never knew and really teaches me that no matter what you are cooking if it’s something you just threw together or a recipe that is centuries old the most important ingredient will always be love.
Don Pablo Castillo’s Capirotada
Prep time one hour
Cook time 30 minutes
Ingredients
I bag anise seeds
I bag anise stars
A bunch of whole cinnamon sticks
Two Piloncillo
A loaf of bread
2 sticks of butter
A bag of cheddar cheese
A box of raisins
Directions
Boil water in a large sauce pan
Once it is at a rolling boil add anise and cinnamon sticks turn off heat and steep tea for 10 minutes drain seeds and add the piloncillo. Turn on to medium heat until piloncillo dissolves.
While the tea is boiling toast loaf of bread and butter both sides. Preheat oven to 350.
Line a casserole pan with a layer of bread. Soak with the tea and sprinkle raisins and cheese. Repeat layers until the pan is full.
Prep time one hour
Cook time 30 minutes
Ingredients
I bag anise seeds
I bag anise stars
A bunch of whole cinnamon sticks
Two Piloncillo
A loaf of bread
2 sticks of butter
A bag of cheddar cheese
A box of raisins
Directions
Boil water in a large sauce pan
Once it is at a rolling boil add anise and cinnamon sticks turn off heat and steep tea for 10 minutes drain seeds and add the piloncillo. Turn on to medium heat until piloncillo dissolves.
While the tea is boiling toast loaf of bread and butter both sides. Preheat oven to 350.
Line a casserole pan with a layer of bread. Soak with the tea and sprinkle raisins and cheese. Repeat layers until the pan is full.