<p><br> It's not just the living that feast at a Día de Los Muertos celebration-the dead have appetites, too. Long ago, the Catholic All Saints and All Souls Days merged into a cultural event known as Day of the Dead. From northern Mexico to the Yucatán states, the living commemorate deceased ancestors with symbolic offerings, from sugar skulls, tamales, liquors, and marigolds to <i>pan de muerto</i> (bread of the dead), loaves baked in the shapes of humans and animals. These tasty gifts can be eaten once the spirits have had their fill.</p>

Bread of the Dead Mexico's Day of the Dead


It's not just the living that feast at a Día de Los Muertos celebration-the dead have appetites, too. Long ago, the Catholic All Saints and All Souls Days merged into a cultural event known as Day of the Dead. From northern Mexico to the Yucatán states, the living commemorate deceased ancestors with symbolic offerings, from sugar skulls, tamales, liquors, and marigolds to pan de muerto (bread of the dead), loaves baked in the shapes of humans and animals. These tasty gifts can be eaten once the spirits have had their fill.

Photograph by John and Lisa Merrill, Corbis

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