History of the piñata

Most people think of piñatas as a fun activity for parties. The history of the piñata reveals many interesting facts that go beyond the playing of a game, although piñatas certainly have been intended for fun.
Piñatas may have originated in China. Marco Polo discovered the Chinese fashioning figures of cows, oxen or buffaloes, covered with colored paper and adorned with harnesses and trappings. Special colors traditionally greeted the New Year. When the mandarins knocked the figure hard with sticks of various colors, seeds spilled forth. After burning the remains, people gathered the ashes for good luck throughout the year.
When this custom passed into Europe in the 14th century, it adapted to the celebrations of Lent. The first Sunday became ‘Piñata Sunday’. The Italian word ‘pignatta’ means "fragile pot." Originally, piñatas fashioned without a base resembled clay containers for carrying water. Some say this is the origin of the traditional pineapple shape. Also the Latin prefix ‘piña’ implies a cluster of flowers or fruits as in ‘pineapples’ and ‘pine cones’.
When the custom spread to Spain, the first Sunday in Lent became a fiesta called the ‘Dance of the Piñata’. The Spanish used a clay container called la olla, the Spanish word for pot. At first, la olla was not decorated. Later, ribbons, tinsel and fringed paper were added and wrapped around the pot.
At the beginning of the 16th century the Spanish missionaries to North America used the piñata to attract converts to their ceremonies. However indigenous peoples already had a similar tradition. To celebrate the birthday of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, priests placed a clay pot on a pole in the temple at year's end. Colorful feathers adorned the richly decorated pot, filled with tiny treasures.. When broken with a stick or club, the treasures fell to the feet of the god's image as an offering. The Mayans, great lovers of sport played a game where the player’s eyes were covered while hitting a clay pot suspended by string. The missionaries ingeniously transformed these games for religious instruction. They covered the traditional pot with colored paper, giving it an extraordinary, perhaps fearful appearance.
The decorated clay pot also called a cantero represents Satan who often wears an attractive mask to attract humanity. The most traditional style piñata looks a bit like Sputnik, with seven points, each with streamers. These cones represent the seven deadly sins, pecados - greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, envy, wrath and lust. Beautiful and bright, the piñata tempted. Candies and fruits inside represented the cantaros (temptations)of wealth and earthly pleasures.
Thus, the piñata reflected three theological virtues in the catequismo. (religious instruction or catechism)
The blindfolded participant represents the leading force in defying evil, ‘Fe’, faith, which must be blind. People gathered near the player and spun him around to confuse his sense of space. Sometimes the turns numbered thirty three in memory of the life of Christ. The voices of others cry out guidance:
¡Más arriba! More upwards!
¡Abajo! Lower!
¡Enfrente! In front!
Some call out engaños (deceits, or false directions) to disorient the hitter.
Secondly the piñata served as a symbol of ‘Esperanza’, Hope.
With the piñata hanging above their heads, people watched towards los cielos (sky or heaven) yearning and waiting for the prize. The stick for breaking the piñata symbolized virtue, as only good can overcome evil. Once broken, the candies and fruits represented the just reward for keeping faith.
Finally the piñata symbolized ‘Caridad’, Charity. With its eventual breaking, everyone shared in the divine blessings and gifts.
The moral of the piñata: all are justified through faith.
Today, the piñata has lost its religious symbolism and most participate in the game solely for fun. Piñatas are especially popular during Las Posadas, traditional processions ringing in the Christmas season and at birthday parties. During festivities, people traditionally sing songs while breaking the piñatas.
“Dale, dale, dale, no perdas el tino,
porque si lo perdes, pierdes el camino.
Esta piñata es de muchas mañas, sólo contiene naranjas y cañas.”
Hit, hit, hit.
Don’t lose your aim,
Because if you lose, you lose the road.
This piñata is much manna, only contains oranges and sugar cane.”
Another popular song for hitting the piñata is rooted in the year 1557 when dignitaries of Felipe II toured towns in New Spain. While exacting pledges of allegiance, coins of nickel were offered for coins of silver. This failed to please the people so as they break piñatas during las posadas, they sing:
"No quiero níquel ni quiero plata:
yo lo que quiero es romper la piñata."
“I don’t want nickel/I don’t want silver
I only want to break the piñata…”
Piñatas can be found in all shapes and sizes. Modern ones often represent cartoon or other characters known to most children. Others are shaped like fruits, baskets, rockets etc. Sometimes people of political statue are satirized. At Christmas, star-shaped piñatas suggestive of the Star of Bethlehem are especially popular. One’s imagination is the creative limit.
Traditionally, piñatas are filled with both candies and fruits. Around Christmas in Mexico, wrapped candies, peanuts, guavas, oranges, jicamas(a sweet root vegetable), sugar cane, and tejocotes (a kind of crab apple) stuff piñatas. Some types of piñatas called traps, are stuffed with flour, confetti or ‘flowery water’. Any child without a treat after the goodies are gathered from the ground is given a little basket full of special candy. These colaciónes are kept on hand to avoid hurt feelings and tears. The rest of the treats are passed around to everyone before the party is over.
Towns of potters once existed to fashion ‘ ollas piñateras’, bare clay pots sold in the mercado. (market) People took them home and pasted their own colored paper to them. Cardboard and paper maché often fashioned over balloons has replaced ‘ la olla’ in many modern piñatas.
The piñata’s versatility contributes to its perennial popularity. Fashioned from a long tradition the joyous piñata continues to enchant celebrations and parties around the world.
In Mexico you will hear parents and children singing this special Piñata song.
"Dale, dale, dale, no pierdas el tino,
porque si lo pierdes, pierdes el camino.
Esta piñata es de muchas mañas, sólo contiene naranjas y cañas."
La piñata tiene caca,
Tiene caca:
Cacahuates de a montón.
Esta piñata es de muchas mañas,
Sólo contiene naranjas y cañas.
No quiero oro, ni quiero plata,
Yo lo que quiero es romper la piñata.
Ándale Juana, no te dilates
Con la canasta de los cacahuates.
Anda María, sal del rincón
Con la canasta de la colación.
En esta posada nos hemos chasqueado
Porque Teresita nada nos ha dado.
Echen confites y canelones,
a los muchachos que son muy tragones.
Todos los muchachos rezaron con devoción,
De chochos y confites les dan ya su ración.
Castaña asada, piña cubierta;
Echen a palos a los de la puerta.
Ándale Juan, sal de la hornilla
Con la botella de la manzanilla.
De los cerritos y los cerrotes,
Saltan y brincan los tejocotes.
Andale niña, sal otra vez
Con la botella del vino jerez.
Esta posada le tocó a Carmela:
si no da nada le saco una muela.

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Tequila

From its beginnings in the blue agave fields of Jalisco, to its consumption in small cantinas and trendy restaurants, tequila is the quintessentially Mexican drink.

Tequila, like its cousin, mezcal, is made from the agave plant. Contrary to popular belief, the agave is not a member of the cactus family, but rather comprises its own distinct botanical family, agavaceae, related to the lily.

What makes good tequila? For some it is the earthy, vegetable taste and aroma of the agave. For others it is the sharp bite of the blanco or reposados. Still others prefer the smooth, body of the añejos. The best advice is to try several brands and several types to find the taste you like.

It is said that, Old Town San Diego serves more tequilla than anywhere else in the world so there is plenty to choose from.

Types of tequila

Blanco or plata (white or silver): the most common type. It's considered 'unaged' under 60 days
old, and may be bottled fresh from distillation. Sometimes this is a harsh, young (joven) drink, but it can also be tastier and more robust than highly refined varieties, if it's marked "100 per cent agave”.

Reposado means rested. This is aged from two months to up to a year in oak casks or barrels. This is where the better tequilas start and the tastes become richer and more complex. The longer the aging, the darker the color and the more the wood affects the flavor.

Añejo (aged, or vintage): aged in govern
ment-sealed barrels of no more than 350 liters, for a minimum of a year. Many of the añejos become quite dark and the influence of the wood is more pronounced than in the reposado variety.

TWAINFEST

Date: August 18 (Saturday)

Literary games including “Fish for Words, Chortle This and Telegraph Crunch” will delight the entire family, as well as sack races, marbles, ring toss and other games of the period for the kids.  A spelling bee will run throughout the day as well as a community-wide Never Ending Story to which anyone who wishes may contribute.

Latin American Festival

August 3-5,
Bazaar del Mundo's annual festival presents one of the nation’s most extensive collections of authentic Mexican folk art, traditional clothing and textiles, colorful collectibles and dazzling jewelry, plus entertainment and Mexican cuisine. Guest artisans from Chihuahua, Mexico will be in attendance, creating eye-popping Mata Ortiz pottery, a centuries-old art form renowned for its hand-painted geometric and ancestral symbols.

Food History

Corn (maize), one of the world's major grain crops, is thought to have originated in Mexico. When conquistadores arrived in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), they found that the people's diet consisted largely of corn-based dishes with chiles and herbs, usually complemented with beans and tomatoes or nopales.^[3] The diet of the indigenous peoples of pre-Columbian Mexico also included chocolate, vanilla, tomatillos, avocado, guava, papaya, sapote, mamey, pineapple, soursop, jicama, squash, sweet potato, bell peppers, peanuts, agave, chili peppers, chicle, sunflower seeds, achiote, huitlacoche, turkey, and fish. In the 1520s, while Spanish conquistadors were invading Mexico, they introduced a variety of animals, including cattle, chickens, goats, sheep, and pigs. Rice, wheat, and barley were also introduced as were olive oil, wine, almonds, parsley, and many spices. The imported Spanish cuisine was eventually incorporated into the indigenous cuisine.

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Mexican Food: Traditional and Modern Mexican Dishes

Mexican food has been always considered to be very spicy. Well, that is partially true. Mexican food history shows that Mexico has given chocolate to the world, as well as several other specialties, including peanuts, vanilla, beans, coconuts and tomatoes. The traditional Mexican cooking makes use of these native elements to produce tasteful meals. With the arrival of specialties like pork, lamb, beef, wine, vinegar and cheese from Spain (brought by the conquerors), the Mexican cuisine evolved, by integrating these European elements into their own traditional meals.

Corn, an important ingredient in Mexican food

Mexican food continued evolving as new products and techniques were introduced into Mexico from different places. We can find recipes and ingredients originally from South America, the Caribbean and even Africa.

The Mexican cuisine eventually met the cuisine from the north, and Tex-Mex food was created. Tex-Mex food is a blend of flavors and recipes from the Mexican, Texan and American culture. Today we can find several different kinds of foods Mexicans eat, from enchiladas, tacos and burritos to award-winning gourmet creations.

Regardless of the foreign elements present in Mexico’s nouvelle cuisine, the main ingredients remain the same recipe after recipe. The most common ingredient used in Mexican food is corn. Like the ancient civilizations that lived in the region, Mexicans have learned how to cook almost every meal with corn. Corn flour is the main component involved in the preparation of the Mexican food, and corn is also used in many forms for a wide variety of meals, including candy.

Another typical ingredient is the chili, which has a strong, hot flavor. It is used to condiment several meals, and is the main component of the Tabasco Hot Sauce. “Chili con Carne”, or Chili and Meat, is a typical preparation involving Chili. It’s a sort of stew, with small pieces of meat and some vegetables all mixed together with hot Chili sauce.

Perhaps the most famous products of the Mexican cuisine are the desserts. Mexican desserts combine hot elements and sweet elements to produce unique sensations on the mouth, because of both flavor and texture, and the combination of smells is also one of a kind.
 
Mexican candy is not only a piece of Mexican food, but also a piece of Mexican art. The “Calaveras de Azúcar”, or sugar skulls, are specially prepared for the Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Corn-flavored candy is also a typical product.

Every tourist will find Mexican cuisine to be an interesting choice. It is commonly said that visiting Mexico and not tasting Mexican food is like not visiting Mexico at all.

Old Town Events

JULY
Historic Old Town Fourth of July
DATE:  July 4 (Wednesday)
An old-fashioned celebration of July 4th. Parade, crafts and activities of early San Diego. Wagon rides, period games, music, food specials, pie-eating contest and more. Flag raising, keynote speaker, military involvement.

Stagecoach Days
(Every Saturday in July and August)
Celebration of the West on the Move with children’s activities, historic interpretation, cannon and anvil firings, and more.