Eating and Praying on The Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City
All photos by the author.

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Eating and Praying on The Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City

The largest pilgrimage of Latin America—that of Our Lady of Guadalupe—takes place in Mexico City and is one of the best displays of the country’s tortas, tacos, gorditas, carnitas, tamales, atole, and pozole.

The largest pilgrimage of Latin America—that of Our Lady of Guadalupe—takes place in Mexico City and is one of the best displays of the country's cuisine. For the connoisseurs of Mexican food, there's a juicy array of tortas, tacos, gorditas, carnitas, tamales, atole, and pozole. (The chips, candy, hamburgers, ice cream, and carbonated drinks are also worthy of a country that ranks second in obesity worldwide.) At least a week prior to the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe's apparition on December 12, more than five million pilgrims from across Mexico, the US, and the rest of Latin America flood the streets that lead to the city's Basilica. People camp out on the streets, some parking their large pickup trucks full of blankets, food, and grills. Others come on buses and without money to spend, mostly relying on the food given out by residents near the Basilica.

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Pilgrims (1)

Pilgrims arrive to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe. All photos by the author.

The restaurant owners who witness each year the pious carrying images and statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe tell me what they think of the food, the pilgrims, and religious ecstasy.

Don Pedro and his roasted chicken Don Pedro is in charge of roasting chicken in Restaurante El Fogón Montañez, located on Calzada de Guadalupe in front of the Basilica. He has only spent a year and a half guarding the flames and juicy chickens, a period he considers to be but a blink of an eye. According to Don Pedro, fewer people attended this year's pilgrimage, due in part to money. "The government is implementing the digital switchover and people have to buy plasma TVs," he says. In 2013, the government began the analog shutdown regionally and distributed free television converters to those on welfare. However, 60 percent of Mexicans work in the informal sector, and Mexico's minimum wage is 73.04 pesos ($4.30). Taking into account that the minimum wage is among the lowest in Latin America, and that residents of La Villa have to pay between 600 to 1,200 pesos (about $35 to $70) for TV converters, many will sacrifice a tasty pilgrimage for the sake of their telenovelas.

Pilgrims

Pilgrims making their way past piles of street food trash.

"People come here to eat and to worship," Don Pedro admits. "But they mostly come out of piety, because a lot of them don't have money." In 2014, 46.2 percent of the population fell below the poverty line at 2,542 pesos a month ($148) in urban centers and 1,614 pesos ($94) in rural areas. Don Pedro has never left Mexico City. "Traveling for me is money wasted and time wasted," he said, as if utility were always meant to override enjoyment.

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The devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe dates back to pre-Columbian times, before the Spanish conquistadores subjugated the Aztecs and forced them to convert to Catholicism. Our Lady of Guadalupe's skin tone matches that of Mexico's indigenous population: light brown. She is as much revered for her striking similarity to the vanquished people as she is for being the mother of God. Historians speculate that Our Lady of Guadalupe is the synergy between Tonantzi—an ancient Aztec goddess—and the Virgin Mary, a Catholic symbol brought by the Spaniards. The 484th anniversary of her apparition to the peasant boy San Juan Diego—declared a saint by Pope John Paul II—is what drives millions annually to the Basilica in La Villa, where her image rests. The Basilica was built on the outskirts of Mount Tepeyac, where Our Lady appeared, the same spot where the Aztecs paid tribute to Tonantzi.

Danzantes (dancers) perform in reverence of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Dancers perform in reverence of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is a powerful symbol of Mexican religiosity that permeates the whole of Latin America. She is also known as Madre de las Americas (Mother of the Americas). "I go worship her when I can," says Don Pedro. "But it's hard when you don't have free time."

Alma making gorditas

Alma making gorditas.

Alma, the gorditas maker Alma makes La Villa's signature gorditas for 12 hours a day, every day of the week. She gets a few days off a year, but since November and December are high season for the famous gorditas, she works the small stand every day, exactly like she has done for the last eight years. She is not a native of La Villa and finds little merit in making the country's most sacred gorditas. She lives 45 minutes away, in Ecatepec, and starts jumping from microbuses to the subway at 7 AM. Once she sets up, she kneads five kilos of dough in a bucket, takes a pinch, rolls it into a small ball in her palms, presses it, and cooks it on a hot plate.

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Gorditas La Villa made by Alma

Gorditas La Villa made by Alma.

She makes around 1,200 gorditas that end up wrapped in colorful tissue paper. For her, the immense influx of pilgrims on December 11 and 12 barely make her wince. "It's more work but the same pay," she says aloofly. "My boss makes all the profit from people who get hungry and have to eat."

Porfirio Acosta Valle, a.k.a. El Barbitas or "The Taquero" "Mexicans can't live without vitamin T," says El Barbitas. "Tacos, tortas, and tostadas." El Barbitas chops meat and makes tacos for a living in a taquería in front of the Basilica. He has been a taquero for ten years and the rest of the staff respects him. "We are a big family," he says while teasing Angel, a twentysomething waiter." We fight but only like family." The whole business revolves around his ability to chop every conceivable cut of beef and pork. "We serve puerco, bistec, longaniza, and birria," he says. Birria is his specialty, and by far the most popular for the all tacos. "Mexicans eat tacos all day; taco fillings or guisado for breakfast, pork for lunch, and pastor [pork marinated in a pineapple mixture] for dinner." This is roughly his diet, about three to five tacos daily.

El Barbitas on his work station

El Barbitas.

The restaurant is located right on Calzada de Guadalupe, the main avenue that runs for about 30 blocks and which becomes impenetrable on the eve of the pilgrimage. The street is packed with people who eat wherever they can, Barbitas explains. "This street has always existed," he adds. It only offered tacos and Mexican dishes before the arrival of McDonald's and Burger King.

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El Barbitas' workday is between eight to 12 hours long, and the blast of the butcher knife against the wooden board doesn't stop for one second. "We let Koreans, Chinese, Italians, [and] gringos try one taco," warns Barbitas. "They always order more."

The authorities of Mexico City have implemented a tight security protocol to guarantee the safety of the millions of pilgrims, mostly at the sake of vendors. "Security and order are very important," says El Barbitas. "But this means that vendors behind the security fence don't sell." Street vendors are the hardest hit by these measures. They may not be allowed to sell at all; and even if they can, the regimented flow of the pilgrims makes them inaccessible to many. The majority of pilgrims reach the Basilica on the eve of the celebration to sing Our Lady the mañanitas, or birthday song. Millions walk down Calzada de Guadalupe and many stay undisturbed, sleeping under thick blankets on the sidewalk. Days before the celebration, the streets are already filled with trash. On December 12, trash has piled up, but people and dancers approach undeterred.

Barbitas is pleased with his job. The proximity to the Basilica makes it an unusual tourist spot, and the staff of the restaurant is proud to serve travelers and pilgrims the taste of La Villa. To prove it, Angel takes out his smartphone to brag about the pictures he took of tourists who came to pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe and try their tacos. Without birria, their complete surrender to the Virgin Mary wouldn't be complete.

People camp out on the streets

Pilgrims camping out on the streets.

Before I leave the restaurant, El Barbitas reveals his secret to making the best tacos. "You have to have the enthusiasm to make tacos," he confesses. "Love and tenderness—the recipe is not important." With the restaurant and the Basilica behind me, I'm moved by El Barbitas' passion and the acts of piety around me. His words still resonate as I enter the subway: "I wish you love, money, and health for 2016," he had told me solemnly. "Money to spend on love with health."