Tamales de Frijol Norteños 
Northern Bean Tamales
Tamales de Puerco Norteños Northern Pork-Filled Tamales
Muk-Bil Pollo Yucatecan Chicken and Pork Tamale Pie
Uchepos Michoacán Fresh Corn Tamales
Tamales Dulces de Elote Sweet Fresh Corn Tamales
Tamales de Pollo Chicken Tamales
Tamales de Dulce Sweet Tamales
Tamales Cernidos de Rajas y Queso Spongy Tamales Filled with Chile Strips and Cheese
You may not be able to tell at first that tamales are being cooked except perhaps by the steamy windows—but later on a rich, subtle smell of corn husks, masa, and good lard, all intermingled, fills the house and gets stronger as the cooking nears completion. After their allotted time, you open one up to see if it is done. You heave a sigh of relief as a soft, spongy, white tamal rolls quite easily away from the husk. It could so easily have been heavy and damp.
Tamales are made for an occasion, and an occasion is made of making them. Men, women, children, and servants all join in with good humor, shredding, chopping, stirring, and cleaning the husks until all is prepared. Then everyone converges to form a real assembly line, some daubing the husks with masa while others add the filling, fold, and stack into the steamer. And there is nothing quite as delicious as that first tamal, straight from the steamer.
Tamales are fiesta food, Sunday supper food in popular restaurants, and early morning market food. They are prepared for graveside suppers on All Saints’ Day. Many varieties of tamales were prepared in pre-Columbian times. And what an enormous variety there is today, from the smallest norteño to the yard-long sacahuil made in the Sierra Huasteca.
I had often read of this giant tamal yet I could find no one who had eaten it or seen it prepared until I went to Tampico. There I was told that it was the favorite breakfast fare in Pánuco, less than an hour away by road. “But you have to get there early,” I was warned. I got up at the crack of dawn and braved hurricane winds and torrential rains to get to the bus station on time. After countless delays the bus was finally cruising along the highway at a maddeningly slow pace. When we arrived in Pánuco, no one was in sight and the air was hot and sultry as I made my way without success from one little puesto to another. I was just about to give up when a passerby enlightened me: “But sacahuiles are only made on Sunday. Anyway go and see Señorita Chanita, she makes the best ones,” and she pointed the way to the house.
Señorita was a striking woman, tall, dark skinned, with gleaming white hair. After the usual polite greetings I came to the point: could she make a four-foot sacahuil for me early tomorrow, as I had a plane to catch. “But no one slaughters pigs on Friday,” she demurred. She must have seen that I was on the verge of tears because she finally agreed to do it.
Back in Tampico I immediately started to negotiate for a car with a steady driver and good brakes. We did indeed leave early, but when we were halfway there the engine began to falter. The driver was optimistic, contrite, and silent in turn—I was furious. He coaxed the car to the edge of town, where it stopped dead. As I neared Chanita’s house a savory smell wafted on the damp air and there she was, opening up her huge adobe oven in which the sacahuil had been cooking all night. She eased it out cautiously. The giant tamal thickly wrapped in layers of banana leaves was held taut within a framework of tough palm leaves. We opened it reverently and broke into the moist, textured dough of maiz martajado (roughly crushed) that encased a whole loin of pork seasoned with a paste of ancho chiles and spices. What a breakfast we made of it, accompanied by earthenware mugs of local coffee boiled with raw sugar and cinnamon.
Probably the most surprising members of the tamal family are the shrimp ones from Escuinapa in Sinaloa. Small shrimps in their shells are used, and their little spines and feelers stick out through the dough. Of course you have to know where to eat them or you will find yourself with a mouthful of spines and debris. In Sinaloa, too, they make large tamales like elongated bonbons. They are filled with the usual pork and tomato sauce, but added to it are all sorts of vegetables cut into little strips—zucchini, potatoes, green beans, plantains, and serrano chiles.
Chiapas seems to have more than its share of varieties. On the coast there are those of iguana meat and eggs, and inland around Tuxtla Gutiérrez there are countless varieties. I was told of at least ten kinds, of different herbs, beans, chicharrón (the crisp-fried pork rind), and those called cuchunuc, to which small pink flower buds are added. But probably the best known of all are the tamales de bola, with the corn husk tied on top making them round, as their name implies, and inside a rib of pork, a prune, and a small dried local chile called simojovel.
You will have to persevere to find the tamales colados in Campeche and Mérida. They are cooked in banana leaves, with a wonderfully savory filling seasoned with achiote and epazote. The tamal itself is made of tortilla dough that has been diluted in water, strained, and cooked until thickened; as one Campeche cookbook says, “the dough must be almost transparent and so delicate that it trembles at a touch.” There are small tamales whose dough is studded with little beans called espelón, the skin of which turns black when cooked, and the completely pre-Columbian dzotobichay, which is a large tamal of masa flecked with cooked chaya (tastes rather like Swiss chard) and formed like a jelly roll, with a filling of well-toasted pumpkin seeds. It is then steamed in a banana leaf and served with a tomato sauce.
Michoacán, too, is famed for its tamales: the fresh corn uchepos and the corundas—tamales leavened with wood ash and wrapped in the long leaf of the corn stalk to form a fat, triangular shape. There are tamales of wild cherries (capulines) and those made of fermented dough of black corn. There are uchepos de leche or cuchara: fresh corn is finely ground with milk, the liquid strained and then cooked with sugar and cinnamon until thickened. Briefly blanched fresh corn husks are filled with the mixture and set aside to set firmly before eating.
Elsewhere there are tamales filled with fish, pumpkin, or pineapple and peanuts. Doughs vary too: there are those made of black and purple corn, ground rice, and pulque bread dough to name only a few.
When I first went to Uruapan, I would go very early in the mornings to the portales around the central plaza to eat tamales of wild blackberries and drink atole of fresh corn. And just when I decided that there could surely be no more types of tamales, a friend’s cook produced some del campo—tortilla dough beaten with lard and sandwiched between avocado leaves. The steamer was lined with the leaves as well, giving off a delicious anisey aroma. We ate them with a dish of pork and zucchini cooked in green sauce.
There are a great variety of tamales, too, in Oaxaca, which has so many geographical and cultural areas. The best known of these perhaps are those with paper-thin masa filled with mole negro; simple but delicious ones filled with beans and hoja santa; masa flecked with wild green, called chepil; those from the Isthmus, made of masa flavored with epazote and filled with dried fish or shrimp; and those of the Pacific coast filled with a type of mussel, shell and all—to name but a few.
The two recipes for small, slim tamales that follow were given to me by the García Quintanilla family from Monterrey when they were talking to me nostalgically about the dishes their late mother used to prepare.
The tamales de frijol were always prepared for family gatherings and festive occasions; they were topped with finely shredded lettuce or cabbage and chopped tomatoes seasoned with lime juice and salt. Curiously they were made with imported pinto beans, which were much more commonly used in the north than those from central Mexico.
Señora Hortensia always beat the masa—not very long—by hand, but nowadays most cooks prefer to use a heavy-duty mixer. She put two crossed forks in the top of the steamer to support the tamales at a slight angle.
Traditionally these tamales, and many other types, were reheated in the husk on a comal over medium heat. The husk will become slightly charred.
SEÑORA HORTENSIA QUINTANILLA DE GARCÍA
MAKES ABOUT 33 4-INCH (10-CM) TAMALES
THE BEAN FILLING AND CHILE SAUCE
8 OUNCES (225 G) FLOR DE MAYO OR PINTO BEANS
3 LARGE ANCHO CHILES, SEEDS AND VEINS REMOVED
2 GARLIC CLOVES
1 CUP (250 ML) MEAT BROTH OR WATER
¾ TEASPOON CUMIN SEEDS, CRUSHED
4 PEPPERCORNS, CRUSHED
3 TABLESPOONS PORK LARD
SALT TO TASTE
THE MASA
1 POUND (450 G) TAMALE DOUGH (ABOUT 2 CUPS/500 ML)
4½ OUNCES (130 G) PORK LARD (½ CUP/125 ML, PLUS 2 TABLESPOONS)
3 TABLESPOONS RESERVED CHILE SAUCE
ABOUT ⅓ CUP (85 ML) MEAT BROTH OR WATER
SALT TO TASTE
ABOUT 36 HALVED CORN HUSKS—ABOUT 3 INCHES (8 CM) WIDE AT THE TOP, SOFTENED IN WATER, DRAINED, PATTED DRY
Have ready a tamale steamer.
Pick through the beans to make sure there are no small stones. Rinse in cold water and skim the surface of any flotsam. Put the beans into a large saucepan or slow cooker, cover with fresh water, and bring to a boil. Cook until the beans are quite soft and most of the water has been absorbed—you should have about 4 cups (1 l).
Meanwhile, prepare the chile sauce. Put the chiles and garlic into a small saucepan, cover with water, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Put ½ cup (125 ml) of the broth or water into the blender jar, add the cumin and peppercorns, and blend well. Tear the chile into pieces and add, with the garlic and another ½ cup (125 ml) of the broth or water, to the blender jar and blend to a fairly smooth sauce.
Heat the 3 tablespoons of lard in a deep skillet, add the beans, and mash over medium heat to a rough-textured consistency. Stir in all but 3 tablespoons of the chile sauce and salt to taste and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring from time to time to avoid sticking until reduced—the bean paste should just plop off the spoon—and well seasoned, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. You should have about 3½ cups (875 ml).
In a large bowl, mix the masa with the lard, the reserved 3 tablespoons chile sauce, and about ⅓ cup (85 ml) of the broth or water—with either your hand or an electric mixer—until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Add salt as necessary.
Line the top of the steamer with some of the corn husks and place an inverted soup plate in the middle. Set over medium heat.
Spread 1 rounded tablespoon of the dough very thinly over the entire width of the top of the corn husk and for about 4 inches (10 cm) down the husk. Place some of the bean paste down the center of the dough and fold one edge of the husk over the other to form a slender tamale—the overlapping masa will stick and help to close the husk more securely. Double the point of the husk up to cover the seam.
Stack the tamales in circular layers, the first layer supported at a gentle angle by the top of the plate. Cover the steamer and cook over high heat for about 50 minutes. The tamale is cooked when the dough separates cleanly from the husk.
SEÑORA HORTENSIA QUINTANILLA DE GARCÍA
MAKES ABOUT 33 4-INCH (10-CM) TAMALES
Traditionally, a whole pig’s head was cooked, and the rind, ears, and tongue were all chopped and used, as well as some lean meat from the leg.
THE MEAT FILLING
1 POUND (450 G) STEWING PORK WITH SOME FAT, SEE NOTE ABOVE, CUT INTO ½-INCH (1.5-CM) CUBES
SALT TO TASTE
3 LARGE ANCHO CHILES, SEEDS AND VEINS REMOVED
2 GARLIC CLOVES
¾ TEASPOON CUMIN SEEDS, CRUSHED
4 PEPPERCORNS, CRUSHED
1 POUND (450 G) TAMALE DOUGH (ABOUT 2 CUPS/500 ML)
4½ OUNCES (130 G) PORK LARD (½ CUP/125 ML, PLUS 2 TABLESPOONS)
3 TABLESPOONS OF RESERVED CHILE SAUCE
SALT TO TASTE
ABOUT 36 HALVED CORN HUSKS—ABOUT 3 INCHES (8 CM) WIDE AT THE TOP, SOFTENED IN WATER, DRAINED, PATTED DRY
Have ready a tamale steamer. Put the meat into a large saucepan, cover with water, add salt, and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking until the meat is tender—35 to 40 minutes. Drain the meat and set aside. You will need at least 2½ cups (625 ml) of broth; add water if necessary to make up to that amount.
Put the chiles and garlic into a small saucepan, cover with water, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 5 minutes. Strain and set aside.
Put ½ cup (125 ml) of the broth into the blender jar, add the cumin and peppercorns, and blend well. Tear the chiles into pieces and add to the blender jar along with the garlic and another ½ cup (125 ml) broth. Blend to a fairly smooth sauce.
Put the meat into a skillet, add all but 3 tablespoons of the sauce and 1 cup (250 ml) of the broth, and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until well seasoned and the sauce is slightly reduced—to a medium consistency—about 15 minutes. Adjust salt and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, mix the masa with the lard, the reserved 3 tablespoons of chile sauce, and about ⅓ cup (85 ml) of the remaining broth with your hand, or an electric mixer, until all the ingredients are well incorporated—about 5 minutes. Add salt as necessary.
Line the top of the steamer with some of the corn husks and place an inverted soup plate in the middle. Set over medium heat.
Spread 1 rounded tablespoon of the dough very thinly over the entire width of the top and for about 4 inches (10 cm) down the corn husk. Place a few pieces of the meat and some of the sauce down the center of the dough and fold one edge of the husk over the other to form a slender tamale—the overlapping masa will stick and help to close the leaf securely. Double the point of the husk up to cover the seam.
Stack the tamales in circular layers, the first layer supported at a gentle angle by the top of the plate. Cover the steamer and cook over high heat for about 50 minutes. The tamale is cooked when the dough separates cleanly from the husk.
SERVES 6
This is a Yucatecan tamal pie, filled with a highly seasoned mixture of chicken and pork and cooked in a banana leaf. It is offered to the dead on All-Saints’ Day, traditionally accompanied by a cup of hot chocolate. Muk-bil literally means “to put in the ground,” or to cook in a pib.
John L. Stevens, in Incidents of Travel in Yucatán, describes the feast of todos los santos in the middle of the nineteenth century in Yucatán:
… and besides the usual ceremonies of the Catholic Church throughout the world, there is one peculiar to Yucatán, derived from the customs of the Indians and called Mukpipoyo. On this day every Indian, according to his means, purchases and burns a certain number of consecrated candles, in honor of his deceased relatives, and in memory of each member of his family who has died within the year. Besides this, they bake in the earth a pie consisting of a paste of Indian corn, stuffed with pork and fowls, and seasoned with chili, and during the day every good Yucateco eats nothing but this. In the interior, where the Indians are less civilised, they religiously place a portion of this composition out of doors, under a tree, or in some retired place, for their deceased friends to eat, and they say that the portion thus set apart is always eaten, which induces the belief that the dead may be enticed back by appealing to the same appetites which govern them when living; but this sometimes accounts for malicious and skeptical persons, who say that in every neighbourhood there are other Indians, poorer than those who can afford to regale their deceased relatives, and these consider it no sin, on a matter of this kind, to step between the living and the dead.
We have reason to remember this fete from one untoward circumstance. A friendly neighbour, who, besides visiting us frequently with his wife and daughter, was in the habit of sending us fruit and dulces more than we could eat, this day, on top of a large undisposed-of present, sent us a huge piece of mukbipoyo. It was as hard as an oak plank, and as thick as six of them; and having already overtasked ourselves to reduce the pile on the tables, when this came, in a fit of desperation we took it out into the courtyard and buried it. There it would have remained until this day but for a malicious dog which accompanied them on their next visit; he passed into the courtyard, rooted it up, and, while we were pointing to the empty platters as our acknowledgment of their kindness, this villainous dog sneaked through the sala and out at the front door with the pie in his mouth, apparently grown bigger since it was buried.
The dish is still cooked in the villages in pibs and comes out with a golden, crisp top and a faintly smoky flavor. Very often the chicken will just be jointed, but it makes it a great deal easier to serve if the bones are removed.
As you can imagine, it is a very solid dish, and needs perhaps just a green salad with it.
8 OUNCES (225 G) PORK FAT, CUT INTO SMALL CUBES
THE FILLING
A 3-POUND (1.35-KG) CHICKEN
8 OUNCES (225 G) PORK SHOULDER
4 GARLIC CLOVES, TOASTED
¼ TEASPOON DRIED MEXICAN OREGANO, YUCATECAN IF POSSIBLE
1½ TEASPOONS SALT
1½ CUPS (375 ML) RESERVED MEAT BROTH
2 TABLESPOONS TORTILLA MASA
¼ TEASPOON PEPPERCORNS AND 1 TABLESPOON ACHIOTE SEEDS (OR 2 TEASPOONS RECADO ROJO)
SALT TO TASTE
2 GARLIC CLOVES, CRUSHED
1 TABLESPOON MILD WHITE VINEGAR
3 TABLESPOONS OF THE RENDERED PORK FAT
⅓ CUP (85 ML) FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
1 HABANERO CHILE, WHOLE
½ MEDIUM GREEN PEPPER, SEEDED AND DICED
1 LARGE SPRIG EPAZOTE
8 OUNCES (225 G) TOMATOES, FINELY CHOPPED (ABOUT 1⅓ CUPS/333 ML)
THE DOUGH
2 POUNDS (900 G) TORTILLA DOUGH (ABOUT 4 CUPS/1 L)
2 TEASPOONS SALT
¼ TEASPOON YUCATECAN CHILE SECO OR HOT PAPRIKA
THE REMAINING RENDERED PORK FAT
BANANA LEAVES TO LINE THE PAN
Lay two pieces of string—each 30 inches (76 cm) long—parallel across the length of a metal baking pan about 8 by 8 by 2½ inches (20 by 20 by 6.5 cm) and two other pieces of string of the same length across the width—there will be a large overlap for tying.
Quickly pass the banana leaves over a flame to make them more pliable, and line the dish with them, smooth, shiny side up, so that they overlap the pan by about 5 inches (13 cm) all the way around. Cut one leaf slightly bigger than the size of the pan.
Heat the fat in a skillet over medium heat, or in the oven, until the lard renders out of it. Turn the pieces from time to time so that they do not burn but become evenly crisp and brown. Spoon out 3 tablespoons fat for frying the filling and reserve the rest for the dough.
Cut the chicken into serving pieces and the pork into 1-inch (2.5-cm) cubes. Put them into a pan with the garlic, oregano, and salt and barely cover with water. Bring up to a simmer and cook over low heat until the meat is just tender—the chicken should take about 30 minutes; the pork a little longer.
Strain the meat, reserving the broth. Remove the bones from the chicken. Set the meat aside. Return the broth to a clean pan; there should be at least 1½ cups (375 ml).
Stir the masa gradually into the broth. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and stir the mixture until it thickens a little. Set the thickened broth aside.
Grind the peppercorns, achiote, and salt and mix with the crushed garlic and vinegar.
Heat the 3 tablespoons of rendered fat in a large pan and fry the onion, chile, green pepper, epazote, and tomatoes until soft and still slightly juicy—about 8 minutes.
Add the ground seasoning and continue cooking the mixture for about 3 minutes.
Add the cooked meats and continue cooking the mixture for 5 minutes over medium heat. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C).
To the dough add the salt, chile seco or paprika, and remaining rendered fat and browned pieces and mix thoroughly.
Press about two thirds of the dough into the prepared baking pan to form a crust about ¼ inch (1 cm) thick on the bottom and sides of the pan. Add the filling and pour the thickened broth over it.
Press the remaining dough onto the smooth, shiny side of the reserved banana leaf. This will be the cover for the pie. Carefully turn the leaf upside down so that the dough completely covers the pan, with enough of an overlap to seal the pie together with the dough around the sides of the pan.
Fold the leaves over the top of the pie and tie them down firmly with the string.
Bake the Muk-Bil Pollo for 1½ hours and serve it immediately.
NOTE: If you can time it so that you serve it hot, straight out of the oven, it is well worthwhile. However, if you have to reheat it, then put it into the oven in a water bath to keep the dough soft. Any leftovers can be frozen well. To reheat, put it frozen into a water bath in a 350° F (180° C) oven.
SEÑORA ESQUIVEL
MAKES 20 UCHEPOS
The uchepo is a small tamal of fresh corn, a specialty of central Michoacán. Many people just grind the corn, add sugar, salt, and sometimes baking powder or soda, and fill the fresh corn husks, ready to steam like any other tamales. However, the most delicate and delicious uchepos I have ever tasted are made by Señora Esquivel for her restaurant Los Comensales, in Morelia. She grinds the corn twice through the corn grinder—she insists that a blender makes the puree too frothy—and then beats in milk, natas (clotted cream, from milk that has been scalded), sugar, and salt. She serves them as a first course or supper dish with some tomato sauce, thick cream, and slices of queso fresco.
For this recipe, and any fresh corn tamales, you will need to look for juicy but mature field corn. Sweet corn does not have the necessary starch and you can use it only with the addition of a “filler” like corn starch, although it will not have such a good texture or flavor.
A food processor is ideal for this recipe, but you can also use a blender: grind the corn in several small batches and let the froth subside a little before stirring in the rest of the ingredients. Select six ears with the husks still wrapped around them. Using a very sharp knife, carefully cut around the base of the husks just above the spot where they are attached to the stalk. Carefully unfurl the husks, rinse them well in cold water, and shake them dry (or spin in a salad spinner) and set aside.
Line the top part of the steamer with the toughest outside husks and set the rest aside for covering the uchepos.
Shave the kernels off the cobs; this should yield about 5 cups (1.25 l).
Serve the uchepos as suggested above with Salsa Ranchera, omitting the onion, cream, and queso fresco, or with the pork dish.
5 CUPS (1.25 L) WHITE STARCHY FIELD CORN KERNELS
¼ CUP (65 ML) MILK (IF NECESSARY)
1 TABLESPOON SUGAR
1 TABLESPOON UNSALTED BUTTER
1 TABLESPOON NATAS, OR CRÈME FRAÎCHE OR THICK CREAM
1 TEASPOON SALT
ABOUT 20 FRESH CORN HUSKS
Have ready a tamale steamer. Put half of the corn into the bowl of a food processor, and process until the corn has been reduced to a textured consistency—about 1½ minutes. Add the remaining corn and continue grinding until you have a finely textured puree—about 2½ minutes more, adding the milk only if necessary to blend. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Shake the husks once again to get rid of any surplus water. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of the mixture down the center of the husk, starting just below the cupped top and extending about 2 inches (5 cm) down the husk. Taking care not to flatten the mixture, or let it ooze out, roll, rather than fold, the husk over so that it overlaps the other side completely.
Fold the point end up to the back of the uchepo and immediately place it horizontally in the top of the steamer. (Because of the loose consistency of the mixture they have to be cooked immediately and cannot sit around while you finish making them.)
To ensure that the bottom layer will not be squashed flat, steam for about 10 minutes before you add the rest. Remember to stir the mixture well before you continue with the subsequent layers. Steam for 1¼ hours and then test. The uchepos should barely separate from the husk. Set the uchepos aside to firm up for about 2 hours before using.
NOTE: Uchepos freeze very successfully and can be kept for about 2 months. When reheating, put them, still frozen, into a hot steamer until soft—about 15 minutes.
SEÑORA ISABEL MARÍN DE PAALEN
MAKES ABOUT 24 TAMALES
I had my first lesson on fresh corn tamales from my friend Chabela Marín from Jalisco. One morning we set out promptly at five for the big wholesale market in Jamaica (a part of Mexico City). For one square block there was nothing but mounds of fresh cacahuazintle, corn with large, wide white kernels (used for pozole when dried). It took at least an hour to choose twenty-five ears of mature but still juicy corn, choosing one here and one there to meet Chabela’s high standards.
Once home again, she told me how to cut the cob at exactly the right spot to unravel the leaves without tearing them, to shave the kernels off as near to the core as possible, and to grind them to just the right texture on the metate. We then ground piloncillo (cones of raw sugar) with anise seeds and cinnamon, and gently melted the butter and lard so that it did not overheat. The most difficult part was filling the fresh husks and folding them in just the right way to hold the loose, pasty dough firmly in place. It seemed like an endless process, but finally the tamales were cooking and that wonderful smell of fresh corn mixed with spices was filling the apartment.
I am afraid we’ll have to start a movement to have more starchy, not-so-sweet corn available, but if you can get white field corn, do make these delicious tamales.
30 (TO BE SAFE) FRESH CORN HUSKS, RINSED AND SHAKEN DRY
4 CUPS (1 L) FIELD OR WHITE STARCHY CORN KERNELS
ABOUT ½ CUP (125 ML) WATER
1 SCANT TABLESPOON ANISE SEEDS
8-INCH (20-CM) PIECE OF CINNAMON STICK
1 CUP (250 ML) GRATED PILONCILLO OR DARK BROWN SUGAR
¼ TEASPOON SALT
4 OUNCES (115 G) UNSALTED BUTTER (½ CUP/125 ML), MELTED AND COOLED
4 OUNCES (115 G) PORK LARD (½ CUP/125 ML), MELTED AND COOLED
½ TEASPOON BAKING POWDER
Prepare a tamale steamer or an improvised one and line the top part with fresh corn husks.
Using a food processor or blender, blend the corn with the water, in two batches, to a rough-textured consistency—you will have to keep stopping the machine and loosening the mixture with a spatula, but do not add more liquid.
Grind the spices to a powder and add with the sugar and salt to the corn, mixing thoroughly. Gradually stir in the fats and lastly the baking powder. Again mix thoroughly. The consistency should be that of a loose, textured paste.
Put about 1½ tablespoons of the corn mixture down the center of each husk to extend about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Curl one side of the leaf over the mixture, making sure there is a good overlap and the mixture cannot ooze out. Press the leaf firmly where the mixture ends and fold the empty part, and pointed end, to the back of the tamale.
Make sure that the water is boiling in the steamer, then lay the tamales in horizontal layers in the top of the steamer. It is best to put one layer in first and let it firm up a little—about 10 minutes—before stacking the other layers on top. Steam for about 1½ hours until, when tested, the dough separates cleanly from the husk.
Eat accompanied by a cup of atole or hot chocolate. Reheat this type of tamale, with the husk removed, on a comal or griddle over medium heat.
NOTE: Freeze any leftovers. To reheat, steam the frozen tamales for about 15 minutes, or heat through in their husks on an ungreased comal.
MAKES ABOUT 30 3-INCH (8-CM) TAMALES
I was shown how to make these tamales many years ago by a Mexican acquaintance and excellent cook, Adriana Jeffries.
THE FILLING
ONE 3½-POUND (1.575-KG) CHICKEN CUT INTO SERVING PIECES, WITH SKIN AND BONE
THE CHICKEN GIBLETS
ABOUT 6 CUPS (1.5 L) WELL-SEASONED CHICKEN BROTH TO COVER
THE SAUCE
1½ POUNDS (680 G) TOMATOES, BROILED
1 LARGE GARLIC CLOVE, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
¼ TEASPOON CUMIN SEEDS, CRUSHED
4 WHOLE CLOVES, CRUSHED
6 PEPPERCORNS, CRUSHED
3 TABLESPOONS VEGETABLE OIL OR MELTED CHICKEN FAT
1 CUP (250 ML) THINLY SLICED WHITE ONION
SALT TO TASTE
THE MASA
8 OUNCES (225 G) PORK LARD
1½ POUNDS (675 G) TAMALE DOUGH
ABOUT ½ CUP (125 ML) OF THE RESERVED CHICKEN BROTH, WARM
SALT TO TASTE
TO ASSEMBLE THE TAMALES
30 CORN HUSKS, SOAKED TO SOFTEN AND SHAKEN DRY
30 STRIPS OF FRESH JALAPEÑOS
30 PITTED GREEN OLIVES
MAKE THE FILLING: Put the chicken, giblets, and broth into a large saucepan, bring to a simmer, and continue cooking over low heat until almost tender—about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool. Strain the broth. There should be about 3 cups (750 ml). Shred the chicken roughly.
MAKE THE SAUCE: Put a few of the tomatoes into a blender jar with the garlic and spices and blend thoroughly. Add the rest of the tomatoes and blend to a textured sauce.
Heat the oil in a large skillet, add the onion, and fry over medium heat until translucent—about 3 minutes. Add the blended ingredients and cook over fairly high heat until reduced and seasoned—about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken pieces, adjust salt, and set aside to season.
Using an electric mixer, beat the lard about 5 minutes until well aerated—it will become very white and opaque. Gradually beat in the masa alternately with the warm broth as necessary (depending on how dry the masa), add salt, and beat again for about 5 minutes or until a small ball of the mixture floats on the surface of a glass of water.
Bring a tamale steamer to heat.
ASSEMBLING THE TAMALES: Spread a large tablespoon of the dough thinly over the inside of a corn husk. Put some of the sauced chicken down the middle with a strip of the chile and an olive. Fold the husk so that the masa is completely covered and turn the pointed end up to the back of the tamale—this will tighten up the seam.
Stack the tamales in the top of a tamale steamer, steam for about 1 hour, then test. If the dough separates easily from the husk the tamale is cooked.
NOTE: These tamales freeze very successfully and can be kept for about three months in the freezer. To reheat, place still frozen into the hot steamer and steam until well heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.
MAKES ABOUT 24 3-INCH (8-CM) TAMALES
This recipe is another from the family of Adriana Jeffries.
Sweet tamales are very popular in Mexico for breakfast or supper with a cup of hot chocolate or atole. They are usually reheated from the day before, in their husks, on an ungreased comal or griddle.
1¼ POUNDS (570 G) TAMALE DOUGH (ABOUT 2½ CUPS/625 ML)
⅓ CUP (85 ML) CHICKEN BROTH OR WATER
½ TEASPOON SALT
1 TABLESPOON GROUND CINNAMON
½ CUP (125 ML) SUGAR
⅔ CUP (165 ML) ROUGHLY CHOPPED PECANS
ABOUT 24 CORN HUSKS (ALWAYS DO A FEW EXTRA) SOAKED TO SOFTEN AND SHAKEN DRY
¾ CUP (185 ML) RAISINS
Put a prepared tamale steamer over low heat.
Put the lard into a bowl and beat with an electric beater until the lard is very white and opaque—about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the masa, broth, and salt, beating well after each addition. Continue beating for another 5 minutes, gradually adding the cinnamon and sugar. Stir in the chopped pecans.
Spread a thin layer of the dough over the inside of the husk and put a teaspoon of raisins down the middle of the dough. Fold the husk over so that it covers the dough and turn the pointed end up to the back of the tamale.
When the water is boiling stack the tamales vertically in the top part, cover, and steam about 1 hour or until the pale pink dough comes cleanly away from the husk.
NOTE: For a variation use ¼ cup (65 ml) sugar, 2 tablespoons grenadine syrup, ⅔ cup (165 ml) raisins, ½ cup (125 ml) diced acitron (candied biznaga cactus) or other candied fruit, and ½ cup (125 ml) pine nuts or blanched and slivered almonds.
MAKES ABOUT 30 3-INCH (8-CM) TAMALES
The curious name of these tamales, literally “sifted tamales,” comes from the sifting of the specially prepared, textured flour made from the broad, white corn kernels that are also used for pozole, cacahuazintle, or maiz pozolero.
The masa is generally whiter and more spongy than that of tamales made of corn masa. In fact these were the first tamales I ever knew in Mexico City and I have certainly never found any like them in southern Mexico. This harina para tamales is not easy to find outside of Mexico City, and perhaps the Bajío, the center-north, but you could make your own (see The Art of Mexican Cooking, or From My Mexican Kitchen) or substitute a tamale dough that is fairly dry—you will need about 1½ pounds (675 g). The lard should be reduced to 6 ounces (180 g) and the broth to about ½ cup (125 ml).
Another popular filling is mole poblano with shredded, poached chicken, or pork in a tomato sauce. These tamales can also be ciegos, or blind, just masa without a filling, to be served with a mole.
THE MASA
8 OUNCES (225 G) PORK LARD (ABOUT 1 CUP/250 ML)
1 POUND (450 G) TAMALE FLOUR
ABOUT 1 CUP (250 ML) WARM CHICKEN BROTH
SALT TO TASTE
36 (TO BE SAFE) CORN HUSKS, SOAKED TO SOFTEN AND SHAKEN DRY
THE FILLING
2 CUPS (500 ML) RAJAS OF POBLANO CHILES, ABOUT 8 CHILES
12 OUNCES (340 G) CHIHUAHUA, MEXICAN MANCHEGO, OR MUENSTER CHEESE, CUT INTO STRIPS ABOUT ½ INCH (1.5 CM) WIDE
2 CUPS (500 ML) SALSA DE TOMATE VERDE
Using an electric mixer, beat the lard until light and fluffy—about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the flour alternately with the broth, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add salt. If beaten sufficiently, a small piece of dough should float on the surface of a glass of water.
Put a prepared tamale steamer over low heat.
Spread 1 heaped tablespoon of the masa thinly over the upper part, and about 3 inches (8 cm) down the leaf. Place 2 strips of the chile, a strip of the cheese, and a tablespoon of the sauce over them. Fold the husk so that the filling is mostly covered by the masa and turn the spare part of the husk up the back of the tamale.
Set the tamales vertically in the top part of the steamer, cover well, and steam for about 1¼ hours. To test, open up a tamale; the masa should separate cleanly from the husk. Leave the tamales in the steamer until they have cooled; they will become a little firmer and less likely to break as you serve them.
Any leftovers can be frozen successfully. See note on storing and reheating on this page.
SEÑORA ROSITA DE GONZÁLEZ
MAKES ABOUT 20 TAMALES
Some cooks insist that the meat for these tamales rancheros be put raw into the tamales, some say the masa should be cooked first and be much thicker. And so the discussion goes on. I have perhaps unwittingly made these tamales more delicate than they should be, given their rustic origin, but they are delicious.
THE MEAT FOR THE FILLING
1 POUND (450 G) PORK SHOULDER WITH SOME FAT, CUT INTO ¼-INCH (.75-CM) CUBES
¼ WHITE ONION, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
1 GARLIC CLOVE
SALT TO TASTE
THE SAUCE FOR THE FILLING
4 ANCHO CHILES, SEEDS AND VEINS REMOVED
1 CHIPOTLE CHILE, DRIED OR CANNED
1 CUP (250 ML) RESERVED PORK BROTH
1 TABLESPOON ROUGHLY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
1 GARLIC CLOVE, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
6 OUNCES (180 G) TOMATOES, BROILED
1½ TABLESPOONS PORK LARD OR VEGETABLE OIL
SALT TO TASTE
THE MASA
5 OUNCES (140 G) PORK LARD (ABOUT 1 HEAPED CUP/265 ML)
ABOUT ½ CUP (125 ML) OF THE RESERVED BROTH, WARM
1¼ POUNDS (565 G) TAMALE OR TORTILLA DOUGH (ABOUT 2½ CUPS/625 ML)
SALT TO TASTE
ASSEMBLING THE TAMALES
5 LARGE HOJA SANTA LEAVES, CUT INTO QUARTERS
20 PIECES OF BANANA LEAVES, ABOUT 9 BY 7 INCHES (23 BY 18 CM)
Put the pork, onion, garlic, and salt into a large saucepan. Barely cover with water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the pork for about 35 minutes. Allow the pork to cool off in the broth, then strain the meat, reserving the broth, and set both aside. There should be about 1½ cups (375 ml) of broth; if not, make up to that amount with water.
Heat the comal and toast the chiles lightly, turning them from time to time so they do not burn.
Cover the chiles with hot water and let them soak for about 10 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and put into a blender jar. Add ½ cup of broth, the onion, garlic, and tomatoes and blend to a smooth sauce.
Heat the lard in a large skillet, add the chile sauce, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time to avoid sticking. Add salt to taste.
Add the pork and ½ cup of broth to the sauce and let the mixture cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat until it is all well seasoned and the liquid has reduced a little. Add salt to taste. Set aside.
To prepare the dough, beat the lard until white and well aerated—about 5 minutes.
Beat the remaining broth and dough alternately into the lard, adding the salt. Continue beating for about 5 minutes more. (Don’t try to float a piece of the dough; it will be a much softer and damper consistency than that for ordinary tamales.)
Pass the leaves over a bare flame to make them a little more flexible. Spread 1 large tablespoon of the dough over an area about 4 by 3 inches (10 by 8 cm) and ¼ inch (.75 cm) thick. Put two cubes of the meat and a little of the sauce into the center of the dough and cover with a piece of the hoja santa. Fold the edges of the banana leaf over until they completely cover the dough and filling. Stack the tamales horizontally in overlapping layers in the top of the steamer. Cover them with more leaves and then cover the top of the steamer with a thick cloth or piece of toweling and the steamer lid. Steam in the normal way for 1 hour.
NOTE: These tamales freeze extremely well. To reheat, put them still frozen into a very hot shallow steamer for about 15 minutes.