POD: Day 361 | 8.11.12

These are the product of my first solo attempt at making tamales. Well, not 100% solo---just without my mother. With the help of Irene Koulianos, a fellow cook/food lover/"feeder of large quantities of people", and a few people who came and left throughout the day, we managed to make enough tamales to feed a village. It was difficult remembering all the steps and trying to assemble them just as my mother would. In the past I have been nothing but a helping hand while my mom steered the entire production and I stuffed myself with tamale after delicious, perfect tamale. After 10 hours of cooking, mixing, stuffing, tying and steaming, they were ready. While they looked great, there was something missing---as is the case when you try to replicate a mother's recipe. It will not deter me from trying again, although I might wait a few months before staging such a huge food production. As my mom told me "Why do you think we only make them on special occasions?"

POD: Day 130

Until a few years ago, my mom never knew just how much I love homemade tamales---specifically hers. Thanks to my declaration of undying tamale love, my mom began a holiday tradition that involves bringing an armory of cooking hardware and ingredients to my house for an all day tamale-a-thon. This year my dear friend, Sheila Lockhart, joined us and helped assemble the delicacies while we listened to Celia Cruz and talked about our families. To me, this is what Christmas is all about---loved ones gathered together to commune over food and memories, while creating wonderful new memories. 

The tamales we made were chicken (with vegetables and green olives), black bean (with cheese and jalapeños) and sweet (with piloncillo/raw sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, dark brown sugar and raisins). I can honestly eat them hot or cold, for breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks in between. I love tamales but even more, I love my mother for continuing to pass along a piece of her cultural heritage to me and for being able to share it with Sheila this year. 

Ancho chiles, guajillo peppers and onions are boiled until soft and then put in a blender until smooth and added to the masa (corn flour).

Masa, after the chile mixture, baking powder and extremely hot oil are added. The oil must be very, very hot before it is added in order for the consistency of the masa to be just right.

Corn husks are soaked in boiling water to soften them and make them pliable for the spreading of masa. Sheila prepared the majority of the husks with masa before the filling.

Pickled jalapeños, carrots and onions are placed on the masa before the black bean filling is  added.

The once the husks are filled, rolled and tied at each end, they are put in a huge pot and steamed for about an hour or, as my mom said, "Until they are done." These are the "done" chicken tamales. Mmmm!