El Paso Matters – Home-made roscas teach people to bake, meaning behind holiday pastry

While El Paso markets and bakeries will sell thousands of Roscas de Reyes by the end of Jan. 6, Chef Jesus Lugo encourages families to try their hand at the seasonal sweetbread because it is another opportunity to bond.

And, he says, because homemade often tastes better.

A professor of culinary arts at El Paso Community College, Lugo said his three children – two in college and one in high school – do most of the work these days. He is content to supervise the creation of the bread that has religious significance inside and out.

The pastry is an integral part of the Christmas season for Latinos in the U.S. as well as many in Spanish-speaking countries. It celebrates the arrival of the Three Kings, also called the Magi or the Three Wise Men, who visited the Holy Family and brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Christ child. This is called the Epiphany and it is celebrated 12 days after Christmas.

Chef Jesus Lugo, professor of culinary arts at El Paso Community College, said it is a family tradition to bake home-made Rosca de Reyes, the holiday pastry with religious significance, because it builds togetherness. (Daniel Perez / El Paso Matters)

The bread, slightly dense and not too sweet, is shaped like a circle or oval like a crown and is topped with an egg wash. It is often decorated with colored sugar, strips of candied jam, pineapple slices, cherries, pecans, dried fruit and sugar paste. The decorations represent the crown’s jewels as well as the gifts brought to the baby Jesus.

“As a Catholic, (the rosca) does have significance, but it goes beyond the symbolism for me,” said Lugo, a 2003 graduate of the Art Institute of Houston. EPCC hired him the next year. “It’s my passion to make a good product and let others enjoy it.”

El Paso Community College culinary arts students learned how to bake cultural treats during the fall 2023 Mexican Bread and Pastries course. (EPCC courtesy photo)

Certified as an executive chef and executive pastry chef by the American Culinary Federation, Lugo said he teaches his students how to make roscas and other cultural treats during his Mexican Bread and Pastries course. He suggested the rosca challenge so family members could participate in a hands-on baking experience and talk about the symbolism of the pastry.

His main tips for people who want to prepare a rosca are to use instant yeast, knead as needed and give the dough enough time to rest. He said the process should take about four hours.

While the sight, smell and taste of a rosca is inviting, hidden inside the bread could be one or several plastic figurines or other items such as a bean, almond or a coin that represent Jesus. 

Here is the reason:

The Bible states that the three kings followed the Star of Bethlehem to find Jesus. Their journey led to an encounter with King Herod, who was troubled by the birth of this child who his scholars said would eventually rule Israel. To preserve his authority, Herod plotted to kill Jesus. In a dream, an angel appeared to Jesus’ stepfather, Joseph, and told him about Herod’s plan and directed him to take the baby and his mother, Mary, to Egypt until the threat was over. In other words, go into hiding.

Families, friends and co-workers often get together to slice the rosca. The person who finds the baby figure is the symbolic godparent and is supposed to organize a celebration on Feb. 2, which is the Feast of the Presentation, when the Holy Family presents Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Tradition calls for the host to serve tamales and atole, a chocolate drink mixed with corn flour, but any refreshments should suffice.

Howard Campbell, professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso, called the rosca an opportunity to participate in the beauty of the Mexican culture, which is abundant in this region, but not always appreciated. It honors traditions and the country’s ties to Roman Catholicism that are enjoyable, valuable and often involve multiple generations.

“(A rosca) has all these interesting little details and the customs are fun, but it also is part of the great richness and strength of our culture in El Paso,” said Campbell, who specializes in Latin American studies with a focus on Mexico.

The Rev. Mark Salas, pastor at Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church in Northeast El Paso, remembers going to his grandparents’ house in El Paso to celebrate the Epiphany with a slice of rosca with coffee or hot chocolate.

“Now with my grandparents being older, our dinners and roscas are simpler and quieter,” Salas said. “Soon, I’ll be having rosca with Ensure.”

He said that as a child with a strong religious upbringing, he was amazed at the symbolic connections between the Bible story and the pastry. He called Jesus the true “jewel” and sweetness hidden in life and that people should try to find him and keep him as a companion.

Salas said sharing the rosca is a great way for people to transition back to work and school from the Christmas holidays. He said families have invited him to their rosca parties and each is beautiful in its own way, but the common thread is companionship whether it is part of a family dinner or 10 minutes with co-workers in the break room.

“I believe this is why the Rosca de Reyes has such universal and enduring qualities and reiterations as a tradition for more than 700 years,” Salas said. “Not to mention, it also is good to have another way to have someone else pay for the tamales.”

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