Making TAMALES

My "TO DO this year in Mexico" list includes a myriad of goals, one of which is learning how to cook Mexican food. Throughout my year, my host family has been teaching me how to cook classic Mexican dishes. As I scribble furiously on a pad of paper and take picture after picture "documenting the moments" of each recipe, I feel that in learning the tricks of the trade of this delicious cuisine, I am learning so much about the culture and people of Mexico. In the past ten months I have collected TONS of recipes, which I have been compiling into a cookbook/recipe book. As I am nearing the end of my time here in Cuernavaca, I realized recently I was lacking one very important and traditional dish in my cookbook: tamales.

So, I told my family I needed to learn, and they talked to someone talked who talked to someone who knew someone who talked to someone....and we found someone who makes tamales for a living to teach me to how to make them.

It was quite an endeavor. The overall process was pretty simple, but as I watched this old Mexican woman kneading the dough for what seemed like an eternity, claiming that this was the most crucial part of the whole process, I wondered if I would have the patience and/or arm strength to get the job done! I also wondered, after watching her dump a pound of manteca(lard) into the dough, if I really wanted to eat these things.

It was a disappointment to hear that I wasn't allowed to touch the dough...apparently if anyone besides the person who started working it touches it, the tamales won't turn out. (Also, if you're pregnant you'd better not even be in the HOUSE when someone's making tamales, or bread for that matter. Apparently yeast doesn't like to work when pregnant women are around.) So instead of a "hands-on" learning experience, it was more of a "sit and watch and feel terrible you aren't helping this nice little lady who is doing you such a great favor" experience.

We made tamales verdes, or tamales with green salsa and shredded chicken. Wrapping themasa (dough) and the salsa/chicken mixture into wet corn husks was a time consuming process. Then, as the 20 minutes she claimed they would take to cook turned into 2 hours, and it was then 10:00 at night, I was starting to get hungry! But when they finally came out, I enjoyed a delicious (though very late) dinner of tamales and atole de ciruela (a hot, corn-starchy beverage that is always served with tamales). Buen provecho!

wonder hands working the masa

the ingredients: corn husks, masa, and salsa/chicken mixture

the tamal ready to be wrapped up and put in the steamer

the only tamal i got to make (since i didn´t want to contaminate the batch)

the giant pot `o tamales

finished products: tamales and atole

enjoying the deliciousness