"tamales" news and stories

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."

Filed under: Holidays

Foods of the Day of the Dead

COMMENTS 4

by Jose Ralat Maldonado, Posted Oct 30th 2009 @ 11:00AM

Day of the Dead altar. Photo: rainy city, Flickr.

Sugary treats, bread and tamales -- the dead have it so good! The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is actually two days that combine Aztec traditions with Christianity's All Saints and All Souls Days on Nov. 1 and 2. It is by no means a somber holiday. In fact the Day of the Dead is a joyous time during which the dead re-join the living and are honored by their families.

Ancestors are memorialized with visits to cemeteries and homemade altars adorned with ofrendas (offerings). These include items belonging to the dead, candles, flowers, a bowl of water, incense and food, of which the dead are believed to consume the essence prior to the living's meal.

The food most closely associated with the Day of the Dead is pan de muerto (bread of the dead). It varies regionally, and is baked in many shapes, including skulls, human figures, crosses and teardrops, then sprinkled with colored sugar.

Filed under: Holidays

Tamales 101: A Beginner's Guide to Making Traditional Tamales, Cookbook of the Day

COMMENTS 3

by Nicole Weston, Posted Nov 12th 2006 @ 7:57AM

I know of a guy in the LA area who is often referred to simply as "the tamale guy." He heads out with freshly prepared tamales every morning, cruising by the spots where his loyal customers are waiting to grab one for breakfast and maybe another couple for lunch. They're so good that I've spotted him hanging outside the back of well-known Mexican restaurants, chatting with the chefs, who are invariably eating one of his tamales instead of they ones they're making inside. Now, you might not get results as impressive as the tamale guy's tamales, but everyone has to start somewhere and Tamales 101: A Beginner's Guide to Making Traditional Tamales can provide a good basis in technique to get you off on the right foot. The book walks you through the process of making tamales, including working with masa and learning how to wrap the corn husks properly, and provides plenty of recipes for sauces and fillings. Some of the combinations are traditional, while variations like Greek and Vegetable Curry tamales will keep you coming back to the book even on days when you don't feel like eating Mexican food.