Day of the dead in Ecuador
In Ecuador, the Day of the Dead is a national holiday that inspires ancestral rites about the dead. It’s celebrated on November 2nd.
There are various rites that combine both the Catholic faith and indigenous culture. In fact, some of the rites draw from pre-Hispanic traditions in which the dead didn’t exist as a concept. It is certainly understood as a transformation, or as a bridge to the afterlife. Actually, indigenous cultures visit the graveyard with abundant food to share with the dead. They intend to remember and thank them for their contribution to life.
During this time of the year, each family makes colada morada and guaguas de pan. You can find them everywhere: bakeries, markets, restaurants, and supermarkets.
Day of the dead in Ecuador
Colada morada
Colada morada is a sweet and thick, dark purple drink. It is a dark purple corn flour grown throughout the Ecuadorian Andes. Purple corn was an ancestral food consumed by past generations of Incas. There’s a huge variety of ingredients that people buy in advance to make this beverage: fruits, medicinal plants, and condiments.
To list the ingredients:
mortiño (Andean blueberry), blackberry, strawberry, pineapple, naranjilla (lulo), babaco, guava, panela, cinnamon, ishpingo (Andean medicinal plant), lemon verbena, lemongrass, clove, sweet pepper, among others. Some of the ingredients we prepare beforehand.
Guagua de Pan
Guagua is a Quichua name that means baby. The guagua de pan is a bread with a human figure and colorful decoration. It means a transformation from digging up the corpses of loved ones to celebrating with them. Ecuadorians also make sweet and salty empanadas, as in the picture. The guagua de pan is made with whole wheat flour.
Most important, traditional families meet together in a home to make their own bread. When I was a kid, in particular, I remember going to my grandma’s house to make the colada morada and guaguas de pan in a wood oven. All my cousins and I used to make different figures and eat the warm bread. It was delicious and fun!!
If you come around November, you must have Colada morada with guagua de pan and visit the cemeteries in Otavalo and Cotacachi. Until now, indigenous culture has kept the tradition alive by bringing food and eating at the graveyard.
In reality, you will not find people eating on graves in Ecuador’s major cities. Nevertheless, people pray and bring flowers to put on the grave.