2008 Woodie Awards
Rhody Eat Beat: Tamales: Made the right way
Rebecca Long
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
01/30/08 - Tamales, a dish native to numerous Hispanic countries, including Mexico, consist of corn dough and meat filling steamed in a cornhusk.
This dish dates back to pre-Colombian times, at least 5,000 years. Evidence of tamales has even been found in Mayan art. Although in modern manifestations, the filling and wrapping of tamales may differ, the difficulty does not.
If, like me, you get the urge to make these, let this serve as a warning - set aside a good portion of the day and enlist some volunteers ahead of time.
The first step is assembling your ingredients. You can find masa harina, the corn flour needed to make the masa dough, and the corn husks at a Mexican market. You will also need a cut of pork with lots of fat to be trimmed off, like pork butt. This is because the dough calls for freshly rendered pork lard. Although you can substitute vegetable shortening, taking shortcuts just seems out of the question. If you want an easy recipe you shouldn't be making tamales the traditional way to begin with.
Unless you're lucky enough like me to have a dad who will butcher meat for you, you need to start by cutting the fat off the pork to render it.
According to my dad, the filling we made is called adobo rojo de lomo de cerdo. It's made with shredded pork, ancho chilis, onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar and some tomato. The rest of the pork is boiled and shredded and the stock is saved for the dough.
Once that is done, the next step is to soak your cornhusks in warm water so they are pliable enough to use.
Finally, you can make the dough. It is made with the harina, pork stock, fresh lard and baking powder. Once your dough, filling and cornhusks are ready, set up an assembly line of family members to make your tamales.
The first stage is to tear up some of the smaller husks to tie up your little corn packages with. In my family, we are rather inept at tying them so we knotted together two lengths of husks to make it easier.
This dish dates back to pre-Colombian times, at least 5,000 years. Evidence of tamales has even been found in Mayan art. Although in modern manifestations, the filling and wrapping of tamales may differ, the difficulty does not.
If, like me, you get the urge to make these, let this serve as a warning - set aside a good portion of the day and enlist some volunteers ahead of time.
The first step is assembling your ingredients. You can find masa harina, the corn flour needed to make the masa dough, and the corn husks at a Mexican market. You will also need a cut of pork with lots of fat to be trimmed off, like pork butt. This is because the dough calls for freshly rendered pork lard. Although you can substitute vegetable shortening, taking shortcuts just seems out of the question. If you want an easy recipe you shouldn't be making tamales the traditional way to begin with.
Unless you're lucky enough like me to have a dad who will butcher meat for you, you need to start by cutting the fat off the pork to render it.
According to my dad, the filling we made is called adobo rojo de lomo de cerdo. It's made with shredded pork, ancho chilis, onions, garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar and some tomato. The rest of the pork is boiled and shredded and the stock is saved for the dough.
Once that is done, the next step is to soak your cornhusks in warm water so they are pliable enough to use.
Finally, you can make the dough. It is made with the harina, pork stock, fresh lard and baking powder. Once your dough, filling and cornhusks are ready, set up an assembly line of family members to make your tamales.
The first stage is to tear up some of the smaller husks to tie up your little corn packages with. In my family, we are rather inept at tying them so we knotted together two lengths of husks to make it easier.