For Día de los Muertos, I usually place pan de muerto, conchas, and empanadas de calabaza on my ofrenda. This year I wanted to add alegrías to the ofrenda, incorporating ingredients that represent the four regions of Mexico that my ancestors came from, as well as an ingredient from where all their family moved to in Douglas, Arizona.
If you’re not familiar with alegrías, they are a conglomerate of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit that is held together by puffed amaranth, honey, and sugar to form a delicious and healthy snack. Think of them like a modern day power bar.
The key ingredient for alegrías is amaranth. This shrub has been used and highly praised for thousands of years by Mesoamerican civilizations including the Aztecs who made a treat similar to alegrías called tzoalli.
This was my first time working with amaranth seeds, which was very exciting for me as my great-grandmother, Nana Angelita, grew amaranth, which she called “quelite de monte,” in her backyard in Douglas, Arizona. My mom has told me stories how my Tata and seven his brothers would eat from the amaranth plants when they were growing up.
The amaranth as well as the Yucatán honey represent my Nana Angelita’s side of the family that came from the Yucatán peninsula, while the Mexican Vanilla that I used is from San Luis Postosí where my Tata Speedy’s family is from. I have a lot of family that comes from Chihuahua, an area that is prevalent in mesquite trees, so I sprinkled a bit of mesquite salt onto the alegrías. I love my chiles, so I had to use a little bit of chiltepíns that are well known in Sonora, a state that my Nana Cruz’s family were originally from. Finally, my grandparents who were born and raised in the border town of Douglas, Arizona, had a pecan tree in their backyard, so I included chopped pecans as a topping.
The alegrías were so much fun to make with my mom and I am glad I was able to incorporate so many ingredients that have significance to my family as we prepare for Día de los Muertos. It did take me two attempts to get this recipe right, but the quail in my backyard were happy to eat up the first batch I made.
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped pepitas
1/4 tsp Mesquite Salt (or regular salt)
1/4 tsp ground chiltepíns
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup raw cane sugar
1/3 cup Yucatán Honey (or any other kind of honey)
4 drops Mexican Vanilla
1 cup amaranth seeds (or 2 cups puffed amaranth)
DIRECTIONS
Combine the nuts, pepitas, salt, and grounded chiltepíns in a bowl and mix. Add those ingredients to a 9×9 baking pan, lined with parchment paper.
Heat 1 tbsp of amaranth seeds at a time in a covered pan over high heat for 30 seconds until they turn white and puffed (do not burn). Place a strainer over a bowl and pour the puffed amaranth into the stainer. Keep all the amaranth that stayed in the strainer and discard the rest. Set this bowl aside for now.
Pour the sugar and water into a saucepan and slowly stir the ingredients over medium-low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the stove and stir in the honey, Mexican Vanilla, and finally the puffed amaranth. Once well combined, add the mixture to the baking pan and spread evenly over the other ingredients.
Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and press the wrap down on the ingredients. Place a chopping board or any other hard surface, such as a pot holder, over the alegría for at least two hours to harden. If the alegría has still not harden after two hours place it in the refrigerator for another 2-3 hours. Once hardened, remove the plastic wrap and cut the alegría into small rectangular pieces.
Sunday Salsa 