#4 Rosca de Reyes.

January 6th is when mexican families gather and enjoy a traditional Rosca de Reyes, which is a baked dessert decorated with powdered sugar, figs and a soft sweet that's called "dulce de membrillo."

We celebrate the day when the Three Wise Men (or in Spanish: Los Tres Reyes Magos) visited Jesus and offered him three gifts, which were gold, frankincense and myrrh. The rosca includes several plastic figurines of a baby, which represent Jesus.

The tradition goes like this: whoever finds a figurine in their slice of rosca has to protect it (placing it in a safe place) just like the Three Wise Men did the day when Jesus was born so the King Herod's the Great couldn't find him, and buy/make tamales for the family in February 2nd (which is another celebration known as "El día de la candelaria." or "Candelaria's Day")
It is also believed that finding this figurine brings good luck throughout the year for the person who finds it.

I got my figurine a few hours ago, hopefully I'll have a great year!

P.S. I've heard of several people who have swallowed the figurine without noticing or even on purpose to avoid buying tamales!

#4 photojournal 2015