Navidad Salvadoreno - Noche Buena

Tia Angelita's nativity

Tia Angelita's tamales

Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve, is the highlight of Christmas in El Salvador.  Families create large, elaborate nativities that adorn the floors of their living rooms.  The Christ Child is covered until Dec. 24th and fresh fruit, gifts, and new plants are presented as offerings.  The gifts represent things you'd like to get for Christmas (like a toy car, chocolates, flowers, chickens,) and the plants are grown specifically for the nativity.

Tia Celsa's nativity

Tamales are also very important in the celebration of Christmas.  Each household has their own special recipe.  The tamales are distinctly different from Mexican tamales.  The masa is much softer and more moist. The filling is typically some variation of bone-in chicken, potato, olives, and whole corn.  They're steamed in banana leaves and eaten with limon, hot sauce, and a little salt.

A few cuetes going off outside

Cuetes, or fireworks, are another important and fun and dangerous tradition.  Fireworks laws are more relaxed than in the U.S. so people set off everything from black cats to straight-up sticks of TNT called bombas.  And everything in between.  :) Everyone sets them off at midnight on the 24th but some people get antsy so you hear them every now and then all evening.