Pumpkin Tamales for Thanksgiving

by Hanna Raskin, Posted Nov 19th 2009 @ 2:00PM

The gap between tamales and the Thanksgiving table is continuing to narrow as an increasing number of Mexican-Americans are stuffing their holiday masa with pumpkin and sweet potatoes.

Tamales have been a festive food ever since the Aztecs and other early Meso-Americans served them in conjunction with their religious rituals, says Claudia Alarcon, an Austin-based writer who's kicking off the University of Texas' Foodways of Mexico speaker series this week with a talk on tamale history. While tamales aren't associated with winter holidays south of the border, Alarcon says "I'm pretty sure in every U.S. state where Mexican-Americans live, they have tamales for the holidays."

Alarcon is now scouring the historical record for the first documented instance of domestic eaters celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with a plate of tamales.

"It's difficult to trace back," she admits. "It's a very deep history."

What Alarcon terms the typical Texan tamale -- pork-stuffed masa, steamed in a cornhusk and tossed with red chile sauce -- was certainly consumed in Southwestern states long before modern political boundaries were established. Matching the delicacy to Thanksgiving, the American harvest holiday, was a sensible extension of the tradition, Alarcon says.

"They're time-consuming, and when extended families get together, that's a good time to make them," Alarcon says. "You get your cousins and aunts and grandma in there, it's the true essence of the holiday."

Tamale cooks have lately been experimenting with celebratory stuffings featuring New World vegetables borrowed from the standard Thanksgiving spread.

"That's definitely an Americanization," Alarcon says "It's not aberrant, just not traditional as far as Mexico goes."

Alarcon is fond of pumpkin tamales, which she describes as "sweet, and spiced with sugar, cinnamon and cloves."

Alarcon also suggests one more quintessential Thanksgiving tamale recipe, adding: "It's a great way to use leftover turkey."

Find more Thanksgiving recipes, including Poblano and Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing and step-by-step videos on KitchenDaily.com.

Filed Under: Holidays
Tags: fall, pumpkin tamales, PumpkinTamales, tamales, thanksgiving, thanksgiving menu, ThanksgivingMenu