For Puerto Ricans, Christmas is not just another holiday, it is part of our identity and culture. There’s no messing around when it comes to Christmas; we take it very seriously.
Longest Christmas in the World
We pride ourselves in having the longest ‘Navidades’ (Christmas Season) in the world. Surely that is no weak claim, for although some people may think that putting up the Christmas tree before Thanksgiving is early, in Puerto Rico people begin celebrating Christmas well before the start of November.
September is the month when the “aires Navideños” (Christmas air) first hits Puerto Rico. From there forward the party is on! Not even New Years can stop our Christmas celebrations. We go on!
Food & Music
If you want a party, you’ll definitely need good food and music. In Puerto Rico we know this very well. That is why we have a special Christmas menu and a distinctive repertoire.
Menú Navideño
Nothing compares to the delicious food that is so characteristic of the Christmas Season on the island. The main dish is rice, ‘pasteles’ and pork.
The rice is seasoned enough to obtain an orange color and is enhanced by adding pigeon peas to it, traditionally from one’s own harvest. Alongside the rice, it is traditional to get a delicacy we call ‘pastel’. That is, a tamale made of grated green banana, filled with pork meat, and wrapped in banana leaves for taste development. The ‘pastel’ and rice are then accompanied on the plate with a generous portion of roasted pork.
The way the pork was traditionally roasted is quite iconic. One would kill the ‘lechón,’ (pig), penetrate it mouth to anus with a stick, and slowly turn it over the heat of the fire so it would roast on all sides. Even though this method is no longer the most convenient method of roasting pork, it is still occasionally used as a way to honor the tradition. Plus, there’s more than one Christmas song that talks about it, including one that specifically goes through the process of roasting pork.
Dessert
After enjoying such a plate, one can only hope to have enough space for dessert. One would not want to miss out on any of these delicacies:
Arroz con Dulce — A classic Christmas dessert that involves rice prepared with sugar and coconut milk and seasoned with different spices. Usually, dried fruits are added (mostly raisins), to enhance the experience.
Tembleque — A jelly-like dessert made from cornstarch, coconut milk, sugar and spices. Due to it obtaining a wobbly consistency when it gets cold, it received the name ‘tembleque’, which comes from the word ‘temblar’ which means “shake”. I dare say it is the most common dessert enjoyed for Christmas in Puerto Rico, but it could be debated.
Majarete — A pudding-like dessert made from rice flour, condensed milk, coconut milk, coconut cream, sugar and different spices, including cinnamon. It has a soft, creamy texture and a delicate coconut taste.
Flan de Queso — A popular dessert in Puerto Rico year round, but nevertheless present in Christmas celebrations. It is a custard made from cream cheese, condensed milk, eggs and vanilla. It has a sweet, slightly cheesy taste and a delicate creamy texture. Usually, caramel sauce is poured on top.
Drinks
Among the many drinks Puerto Ricans ingest over the Christmas season (a great number of these being alcoholic), there’s one drink that distinguished itself from the others due to its being exclusive to the season and having an iconic presence.
Coquito — Served from glass bottles, this generously-sweet white drink is a delicacy with or without the addition of alcohol. It is made with condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, coconut cream, and a combination of spices, including cinnamon and vanilla. Although it is more traditionally served as an alcoholic beverage, many prefer to make it family-friendly by not adding alcohol. Either way, it is very sweet and has a distinctive coconut taste (hence the name which basically means coconut but said in an endearing way).
Music
Now for the music. Puerto Ricans over the generations have made sure to develop a rich Christmas repertoire across the different music genres the island enjoys. Among these, we have the ‘Bomba’, ‘Plena’ and other folk music. These show up in one of the most prominent and characteristic Christmas traditions Puerto Ricans have.
Traditional ‘Parranda’
The Puerto Rican ‘Parranda’ is in a sense the equivalent of the Christmas Carols done in the United States. However, it is far from being a sweet and delicate integration of human voices, and more like a marching band of Puerto Rican folk music disrupting the tranquil silence of the night.
The ‘Parranda’ is purposely planned for late night hours or very early morning (12am — 2am are great) in order to catch the people asleep with all lights off. Everybody in the parranda, instruments and all, sneak silently close to the house in order to scream unanimously ‘¡Asalto!’ (meaning “assault”) and thus jump-scare the inhabitants of the house before proceeding to sing and play the instruments.
Once awake, the person has a few moments to compose himself and decide if he’ll turn on the lights or not. Once the lights are on, the people outside will know he is awake and the person, feeling grateful for the gesture in their surprise Christmas greeting and out of hospitality, invites them in as guests and offers them food and drinks. Obviously, if the person decides to keep the lights off, he will have to try to live with the racket for the visitors will stay outside trying their best to wake him up.
Once they’re done with the ‘parranda’ at your house, they will keep on their way to your neighbor’s house, and so on. Traditionally, once you have received the ‘parranda’ at your house, you would join the group and bring your instruments to play along.
‘Parranda’ Instruments
Among the instruments typically used during ‘parrandas’, is the ‘panderos’ which are three drum-like percussion instruments made from stretched leather, each with its characteristic rhythm. There is also the ‘güiro’ which is yet another percussion instrument, but this one works by friction; tines are rubbed against the body of the instrument which is a hollowed out fruit that comes from the ‘güiro’ plant. Then there is the classical guitar which is used to accompany the star of the night, the Puerto Rican ‘Cuatro’.
Cuatro — String instrument with ten strings and a guitar-like shape. It is played with a pick and makes a distinctive clear sound especially great for playing fast, short notes.
Essence of Christmas
The roots of Puerto Rico are intertwined with Catholicism brought to us by the Spanish in the XVI century. From then forward, the Catholic faith has had a deep influence on the traditions of Puerto Ricans.
Traditionally, for Puerto Ricans, the real essence of Christmas is the birth of Christ (hence it is called ‘Navidad’, basically meaning “nativity”). This is why many Puerto Ricans prepare every year a small nativity scene to put either under the tree or even outside as a way to remember and reflect upon what is really behind all the Christmas celebrations. Some even elaborate and intricate nativity scenes with multiple pieces that go beyond the basic and can be deemed a masterpiece.
Churches usually harbor the most elaborate nativity scenes as many of the lay people come together to help build it.
It is not only through the Nativity scene tradition that we can see Spanish influence and that of the Catholic faith. We can further see the marriage between Christmas traditions in Puerto Rico and the Catholic faith by the different festive days celebrated.
Festive Days During Christmas
Although it would be great to talk about them in this article, it would be a bit long. Therefore, I encourage you to stay tuned in order to learn more about the different days we celebrate in Puerto Rico and how they so seamlessly blend with the Catholic faith.
