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Thali

Next: 1 to 2 Nov 2026

Day of the Dead

Mexican families set out the favourite food of their dead, with sweet bread and sugar skulls.

Altar de Día de Muertos en Actopan, Hidalgo, México (2016)
Photo: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What is eaten for Day of the Dead

On 1 and 2 November Mexican families welcome their dead home. They build an ofrenda, an altar with photographs, marigolds, candles and the food and drink each person loved in life. The dead are said to take the essence of the food, and the living eat it afterwards. Pan de muerto, a soft sweet bread scented with orange blossom and topped with dough shaped like bones, is on every altar. So are sugar skulls with names on them, tamales, mole, candied pumpkin, and atole or hot chocolate.

The dishes

Pan de muertoSweet bread with bone-shaped dough on top.CalaveraSugar skulls marked with the names of the dead.TamalePlaced on the altar and eaten by the family.MoleCooked for the dead who loved it.AtoleWarm maize drink for the vigil.ChampurradoChocolate atole for a cold night in the cemetery.

More dishes made for Day of the Dead

Fiambre 🇬🇹 GuatemalaA Guatemalan chilled salad made for Day of the Dead and All Saints Day Salad or side
About this page

Written by the Thali desk with AI assistance. Background: "Day of the Dead" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly plate

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