Tamales Calientitos
Tamales! Tamales calientitos!
The cry rings across the squares and down the alleys of any town in Mexico today—but its echoes reach back thousands of years to Mesoamerica, to a time before the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Toltec or even the Olmec—perhaps as long ago as 10,000 years. All of those civilizations thought of themselves as “people of the corn,” and it is corn that is the central element of the wonderful tamal, the ubiquitous, delicious, almost infinitely variable cultural touchstone of the southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America.
Bowl of tamales steaming on tripod brazier. Guatemala, Petén, Southern Lowlands, Maya, 600–900 CE. Courtesy of Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
In its commonest form, a tamal (tamales is the plural!) is a dry corn husk spread with ground corn that’s been treated with an alkaline solution to eliminate mold and make it more nutritious and flavorful. This dough-like masa, with added shortening, is topped with a filling, typically meat and spices, then wrapped in the husk and steamed until firm.
Tamal street vendor
It is modern-day Mexico that boasts the greatest number of variations on that theme—5000 by some accounts—so the wrappers may be of banana, plantain or avocado leaf instead of corn husks, the fillings may be of cheese or vegetables—especially chiles—as well as pork or goat, and may be sweet or savory, or both. Even the masa can be replaced by crushed rice or beans. And just as they did thousands of years ago, when Mayans ate tamales at festivals, or Aztec warriors ate them on the march, tamales today have enormous cultural as well as practical importance to Mexicans. They serve as portable, nutritious food available on nearly every street corner, with regional variations to boot, but they are also served to celebrate new babies, at weddings and holidays, and on ofrendas, or memorial altars to the dead.
Aztec feast for the dead, featuring tamales. Florentine Codex. Wikimedia Commons
Making tamales is a time-consuming job, though some commercial short-cuts are now available, and they are often made by a group of women together, where skilled hands and conversation make for quick work.
Aztec women making tamales to celebrate the birth of a child. Florentine Codex. Wikipedia Commons.
Cuchara Restaurant of Houston promises explicitly that the 100 varieties of tamal on its catering menu are made by genuine Mexican grannies!
Abuelita chefs of Cuchara
The tamales workshop that Archaeology Now is sponsoring with Cuchara will be held on Saturday, April 10, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. See our link at https://www.archaeologynow.org/culinary-adventures/tamales-calientitos for details!
Robert Arndt