Credit: Nuestro Stories
Noche Buena means “good night.” It’s a special night in Hispanic and Latino households when families come together to celebrate Christian’s belief in the birth of Jesus. For many, it is the biggest feast of the season. Young and not-so-young sit around a table laden with delicious traditional food, drinking, and sharing stories, gossip, and gifts.
It is our Christmas Eve celebration, and it’s a celebration worth waiting for all year long.
The origins of Noche Buena
The holiday dates back to Spanish colonization. So, as it stands to reason, it’s celebrated on December 24th in Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines.
Christians believe Christ was born on Christmas Day and celebrate the occasion with a mass. In Hispanic and Latino cultures, we celebrate Noche Buena and mark the night before Christ was born. So, Christmas Day is a lot more relaxing!
Households are adorned with Christmas trees and poinsettias – a beloved Christmas plant. The flor de Noche Buena, as it’s called, is native to Mexico. It is named as such because it turns a bright shade of red around Christmas time.
Many Hispanic and Latino families attend mass – sometimes before dinner. But the most traditional one is la Misa del Gallo or midnight mass.
The many flavors of the festive night
In my house, the table is usually set with lechón (roast pork), black beans or frijoles negros, and rice. A favorite is yucca (cassava) with mojito, garlic dipping sauce, and tostones (fried plantains.) There always is some type of salad to accompany the banquet.
In Puerto Rico (and Cuba), Noche Buena’s feast consists of lechón, arroz con gandules or rice with pigeon peas, guineitos en escabeche or sautéed green bananas, and, last but certainly not least, pasteles – ground green bananas filled with meat of poultry and wrapped tightly in banana leaves.
This sumptuous meal is washed down with Coquito, made with coconut milk and copious amounts of alcohol. Coquito isn’t eggnog – it’s five thousand times better.
Here’s a good recipe for coquito. Add rum to taste, although the alcohol-free version tastes just as good.
COQUITO
Ingredients
- 1 can of condensed milk
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- 1 can of cream of coconut (Coco López is a must)
- ½ cup of white rum (Don Q or Bacardí)
- ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (to taste)
- Pour evaporated milk, coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, rum, vanilla extract, and cinnamon into a blender and mix on high!
And, just another pause here because the mojo recipe is also worth having. You can dip almost anything in it or use it to season meat or poultry. I even use it when cooking Puerto Rican red beans.
HOMEMADE MOJO
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh lime juice or sour orange juice
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 10 or more cloves of garlic
- 1 large onion, cut into pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
To finish the meal, try flan, which is Boricua custard, arroz con dulce or sweetened coconut rice, and tembleque, a coconut-based dessert.
¡Feliz Noche Buena a todos!
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