Tamales
For years I've been talking about making tamales in New England. It is a traditional winter activity, which results in this warm delicious treat to share with close friends. Everyone I've mentioned this to has sounded very excited about the idea, so I hauled back dried chiles, masa, and corn husks from California, set a date, and prepared myself mentally for the challenge. My roomate Magali gets top billing for the event, since she if from Mexico City and had actually made tamales before. I held my own with general cooking ability.
We started at 9:30 am, our helpers were not sufficiently schooled in tamale-making to understand the importance of an early start, so Magali and I were on our own. Our secret weapon was the complete absence of quality control. We were making tamales for folks that have never seen one before, and we didn't have an expert in the corner on our case. I stewed the pork loin. prepared the picadillo, and softened the dried chiles. Magali started making the masa and making the filling for the sweet tamales. We realized that we would not have enough chiles, so I ran to the store for more. This cost us time, but that is all part of the learning process. I broiled the fresh chiles and the tomatillos (for salsa) while Magali made more masa. Before we started stuffing, I made the Bloody Mary’s, our other secret weapon. We used bannana leaves for the sweet tamales, which was much more difficult than wrapping with corn husks, so we had a slow start.
At this point, the first football game had started, so we moved the assembly operation into the living room. By about 3pm our first helper, Deniz appeared. We put her to work stuffing. It was my turn to make more masa, so I left Magali and Deniz stuffing while I made a mess at the masa station. It didn't take long for Deniz to understand the tamale making operation, and she became determined to earn her share. As our other guests arrived, she showed them how to fold the tamales and kept them busy. Subbu took a picture of dank dipping his hand in the masa and smearing it on the corn husk, which went along with our theme of no quality control. Meanwhile, Magali and I prepared the salsa, black beans, and rice. Before I knew it, the rest of our guests had arrived, and the first batch of tamales was steamed for consumption. By half time of the second football game, we ran out of broth, filling, and lard, so the tamale-making operation was complete. Between the tequila shots, beer, margaritas, and tamales everyone seemed to have a good time.
We started at 9:30 am, our helpers were not sufficiently schooled in tamale-making to understand the importance of an early start, so Magali and I were on our own. Our secret weapon was the complete absence of quality control. We were making tamales for folks that have never seen one before, and we didn't have an expert in the corner on our case. I stewed the pork loin. prepared the picadillo, and softened the dried chiles. Magali started making the masa and making the filling for the sweet tamales. We realized that we would not have enough chiles, so I ran to the store for more. This cost us time, but that is all part of the learning process. I broiled the fresh chiles and the tomatillos (for salsa) while Magali made more masa. Before we started stuffing, I made the Bloody Mary’s, our other secret weapon. We used bannana leaves for the sweet tamales, which was much more difficult than wrapping with corn husks, so we had a slow start.
At this point, the first football game had started, so we moved the assembly operation into the living room. By about 3pm our first helper, Deniz appeared. We put her to work stuffing. It was my turn to make more masa, so I left Magali and Deniz stuffing while I made a mess at the masa station. It didn't take long for Deniz to understand the tamale making operation, and she became determined to earn her share. As our other guests arrived, she showed them how to fold the tamales and kept them busy. Subbu took a picture of dank dipping his hand in the masa and smearing it on the corn husk, which went along with our theme of no quality control. Meanwhile, Magali and I prepared the salsa, black beans, and rice. Before I knew it, the rest of our guests had arrived, and the first batch of tamales was steamed for consumption. By half time of the second football game, we ran out of broth, filling, and lard, so the tamale-making operation was complete. Between the tequila shots, beer, margaritas, and tamales everyone seemed to have a good time.
posted by Ginevra & Regina at 10:45 PM
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