Halloween may taste like candy corn and mini-Snickers to most Americans. But Day of the Dead tastes like tamales striped with red chile, green chile, and white crema. At least that what it tastes like in Morelia, the capital city of the Mexican state of Michoacán.

The region is famous for its Day of the Dead commemorations. The animated Disney film Coco is set in nearby Pátzcuaro. But somewhat bigger Morelia brings equal magic to the passage of fall into winter and life into death. Around the end of October, it seems like almost every flat surface is covered in marigold blossoms and every building has a prominent Day of the Dead altar to feed the spirits of those on the other side.

Surprisingly, the locals keep their tamales for the living. The local tamal is called a corunda. It is typically served in a small pyramidal shape. Recipes for corundas vary widely by how much they are leavened, how much lard versus how much butter they contain, and whether or not there’s salt in the masa. But in Morelia, they are invariably shaped like little pyramids, Moreover, they are steamed in folded leaves of the corn plant, not the corn husks associated with tamales elsewhere in Mexico.

And those sauces? They represent the colors of the Mexican flag.