The Day of the Tamales

The 2nd of February in the Church calendar is the Feast of Candelaria (Candlemas in English).  In Mexico it is tradition to eat tamales on this day.  

For that reason, I went out for breakfast this morning.  I have been usually eating breakfast in the apartment (or at Alejandro's house).  The exception has been on Saturdays when the cleaning lady arrives at 9:00 A.M.  Last Saturday I went to a branch of Toks, a restaurant chain that I rather like.  They had several breakfast specials for the Candelaria season which all featured tamales.  So instead of pouring myself a bowl of cereal, I walked down Insurgentes Avenue to the nearest Toks to have one of their specials.

The breakfast I chose had scrambled eggs, a tamal (note, the singular of tamales is not tamale), a tostada with beans and two different kinds of "mole" (sauce).  There was a black mole and a green mole made from squash seeds.  The tamal was very tasty, and, for a chain restaurant, Toks has surprisingly good "mole".  

The cost of this hearty breakfast along with hot chocolate, orange juice and a sweet roll was 246 pesos... around 12 U.S. dollars.