{"id":3101,"date":"2026-10-30T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thespecialteeth.com\/es\/?p=3101"},"modified":"2026-10-25T21:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T21:25:47","slug":"calaveritas-azucar-sonrisa-tradicion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thespecialteeth.com\/en\/calaveritas-azucar-sonrisa-tradicion\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar skulls: the story of alfe\u00f1ique and the orchid that holds it together"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Every autumn, under the arcades of downtown Toluca, hundreds of small skulls are lined up in rows. They have coloured eyes, flowers on the forehead and a smile with clearly marked teeth. Many carry a written name: sometimes that of someone who has died, sometimes that of a living friend who will receive it as a gift.<\/p>\n

It looks like a simple tradition. Behind it lie almost four centuries of history, a technique that crossed the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and a secret ingredient few people know about: an orchid.<\/p>\n

\"Traditional
Photo: Eduardo Dorantes<\/a> on Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A sweet with an Arabic name<\/h2>\n

The word alfe\u00f1ique comes from Arabic and referred to a paste of cooked sugar stretched into thin layers. The technique reached the Iberian Peninsula and, with the arrival of the Spanish, New Spain, along with the cultivation of sugar cane.<\/p>\n

According to Toluca’s municipal chronicler, Alexandre Naime, the sweet has mixed origins: a technique of Arab influence that in the Americas blended with local materials and customs. In the colonial period, sugar figures were made for the celebrations of late October and early November, and convents played an important role in the confectionery of the time.<\/p>\n

A permit from 1630<\/h2>\n

In Toluca, the story has a date and a name. According to information released by the municipality, from 1630 the craftsman Francisco de la Rosa was authorised to make alfe\u00f1ique. Over time, the sale of sugar figures for the Day of the Dead became a fair that now fills the downtown arcades from mid-October to early November.<\/p>\n

Skulls are sold there, but so are animals, fruit, coffins and small figures from everyday life. In 2002 a fourth-generation craftsman, Horacio Vilchis Guti\u00e9rrez, told La Jornada<\/em> he had been making sweets for seventy years.<\/p>\n

\"Day
Photo: Chris Luengas<\/a> on Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The twist: the skull is held together by an orchid<\/h2>\n

To make the sugar hold its shape, Toluca’s craftspeople use chautle, the bulb of a ground orchid identified as Bletia campanulata<\/em>. According to the description in La Jornada<\/em>, chautle is dried in the sun, ground, sifted and mixed with water into a thick liquid. It is then combined with powdered sugar, egg white and lemon to make the paste that is moulded.<\/p>\n

Some craftspeople replace it with tragacanth gum, but chautle is one of the features that set Toluca’s alfe\u00f1ique apart. The figures are left to dry for about a day before they are decorated.<\/p>\n

Besides alfe\u00f1ique there is “al vaciado” candy, made by pouring melted sugar into clay moulds. Many of the sugar skulls sold in markets across Mexico are made this way. There are also chocolate and amaranth versions.<\/p>\n

A recent heritage listing<\/h2>\n

In October 2025 the Congress of the State of Mexico declared Toluca’s alfe\u00f1ique Intangible Cultural Heritage of the state, following an initiative from the city council. The declaration also covers other traditional sweets, such as crystallised fruit and typical biscuits.<\/p>\n

\"Decorated
Photo: Brian Wegman<\/a> on Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What is known and what is still debated<\/h2>\n

Documented:<\/strong><\/p>\n