Tamales Recipe
By hola | Published | No Comments
Tamale District
For a holiday reunion, we held a tamaliza
Tamales have been around for millennia. They were comfort food to the Aztec and Maya—and the Olmec and Toltec before them.
In fact, you might say the tamal is one of the earliest forms of “takeout.” The Aztec fed their armies on them. And, according to archeologists, ancient hunters and traders had also discovered these tasty meal-in-ones containing most of the food groups in a neatly leaf-wrapped meal. Once the contents are eaten, the leaves get tossed like fast food wrappers–only biodegradable!
Since they first appeared in Mesoamerica between 5,000 to 8,000 BC, tamales have traveled the world and inspired songs.
Untethered from the strictures governing other dishes, tamales are served for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or as a snack. The tamal is both everyday meal and the stuff of special feasts. So just before Christmas, we reassembled HC’s “featured recipes” crew and held a “tamaliza.”
When making a dish that’s been around longer than the bible, resorting to a cookbook just doesn’t seem right. So, first thing, we sought advice. For an ancient tradition, tamale making still has a strong following.
We got tons of good tips though everybody’s mother, mother-in-law, and kitchen comadre had a slightly different take on making the perfect tamale—not to mention regional variations on such things as the wrappings. Banana leaf, corn husk, or an edible alternative such as avocado leaf, are all used in different parts of Latin America today.
We went cornhusks (a bow to HC’s Mexican roots) but for the rest, we followed Salvadoran tradition as told to our interns Edwin Martinez and Fanny Rivera by their moms. Here are instructions that Edwin’s mother shared:
~~ Tamal de puerco ~~
*First cook the pork:
-When boiling the pork, add onion, garlic and salt to taste.
-Add cilantro once it begins to boil
-When it is cooked, turn off the stove.
-Take out the pork and squeeze the water out of it. The garlic and onion can be thrown away at this point.
-Cut the pork into chunks to be added to the tamale
-Keep the cooking water and wait for it to cool.
-A bag Maseca
-Once the water has been cooled, dump the masa in the water.
-Mix the masa in the water until it is a thick liquid-ish substance.
-Once it has been softened, return the pot to the stove and begin cooking the masa. But keep in mind that once you start, you have to keep stirring or it will start to stick.
-Once it starts to boil, add the cooking oil and continue stirring.
-Taste it to see if it needs anymore seasoning
-As soon it is cooked, turn off the stove and take it off the burner. Do not let it get too cool or it will harden.
Gabrielle and Jaqueline preparing to make he salsa.
– In a blender, add green peppers (about 2), onion (1/2) and tomatoes to fill the blender, water, and seasonings.
– Liquify
-After it has been blended, put the sauce in a saucepan and boil.
****The fillings:
-garbanzo beans
-potatoes cubed
-green olives
-pieces of pork
****Now… Making the Tamale:
-To wrap the tamale, you will need plantain leaves (oja de platanos) and aluminum foil.
-First, cut the leaf about a hand and a half size.
-The leaf must be cleaned with hot water
-The aluminum foil will be the bigger on the bottom of the plantain leaves, and the tamales will be wrapped in the leaves.
Making the Tamales
FIRST PUT A SPOONFUL OF MASA IN THE CENTER OF THE LEAF
THEN THE PIECES OF PORK
THEN THE OLIVES
POTATOES AND GARBANZOS
To Wrap:
Fold from the long side
Once wrapped:
-put aluminum foil and leaves inside the pot
-place each tamale inside of the pot
Once inside, put water in until it is half way filled. If there are more leaves and aluminum foil, place them on top of the tamales and close the pot. After an hour, get one tamale and taste the potato to see if it is cooked, if so then it’s ready to eat!
LAST WORDS
“Seeing friends that I’ve spent a majority of time with during the summer and cooking something traditional was fun and special. Sharing stories and connecting over a recipe as old as my ancestors topped my list of favorite moments.” —Fanny V. Rivera
“The experience for me was a new one. As a child, I was used to waiting for the aroma to fill the room. Now I was the one helping create the aroma. A great way to end the year!” —Edwin Martinez
Fanny and Edwin making the masa.
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