The tamale—corn masa, meat, and spice packed into a husk and steamed—is popular everywhere there are Mexican restaurants, but it has a special resonance in the Mississippi Delta and in the American Southwest.
In the Delta, from Memphis down to Vicksburg, tamales are sold by men and women, black and white, from street carts, off back porches, and in eateries of every kind. They come either ready to eat or tied up with string by threes and packed into coffee cans that can hold three dozen. There is no clear genealogy that explains the ubiquity of a Mexican dish in cotton country, other than the surmise that workers from Mexico who came to pick cotton inspired African Americans to give the pork and corn dish their own unique twist. Some accounts hearken back to a visiting cook from the Texas-Mexico border who instilled the passion in local eaters. Pat Davis, grandson of the founder of Abe’s Bar-B-Q in Clarksdale, Mississippi, told us, “No doubt Granddaddy got it from someone in town,” reminding us that Abe had come to the United States from Lebanon, where tamales aren’t a big part of the culinary mix. Why Abe thought they would sell well in his pork parlor is a head-scratcher. “There were no Mexican restaurants here then,” Pat says. “And as far as I know, not many Mexicans.” Even tamale cooks who have no idea why they are the area’s signature dish agree that hot tamales are a tradition that stretches back in time as far as the blues.
Tamales accompanied by chili are a popular hors d’oeuvre at Doe’s Eat Place in the Mississippi Delta.
In the Southwest, where the tamale directly reflects Mexican cuisine, it is much more than nutritional sustenance. It is supreme comfort food; and the making of tamales is a bonding experience for families and communities. Carlotta Flores, the culinary pillar of Tucson’s El Charro (which her grandmother founded in 1922), told us, “I recall the comfort of tamales at times of bereavement, at times of joy, at times of closeness with others. This ancient food holds memories good and sad—but most of all it contains our family identity.”
At Christmas, El Charro hosts its own version of the time-honored tamalada, a tamale party, at which expert cooks demonstrate to people how to make the simple but exacting dish. The varieties they make are far flung, from tamales de chile Colorado (the classic red tamale) to the yuletide sweet bean tamale made with raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon, to pumpkin-cranberry tamales, even tofu tamales. Carlotta has identified fifty different kinds of tamale, the two basic kinds being the regular tamale made in a dried corn husk that must be softened in warm water before shaping, and the green corn tamale of late summer and early fall (corn season) that is made in fresh, soft husks that impart an earthier flavor to the masa inside.
In Mexican-American households, tamales are as much a part of Christmas as cookies are in other cultures. It is traditional for families to gather on December 24 to make and eat tamales together. The best way to learn to make a tamale is to watch someone do it (hence El Charro’s demonstrations every Christmas), because while it is a simple process, it requires a significant amount of work. As Carlotta says, it is “not something to attempt if there is anything else you would rather be doing.” She does offer these basic tips to lead the tamale maker on the right path:
Rhoda Adams of Lake Village, Arkansas, attributes her tamale-making expertise to guidance from the Lord.
Never cook tamales in an aluminum pot or steam them under aluminum foil. If your pot does not have a good lid and you must use aluminum foil, first place white freezer paper over the tamales, then layer on the foil to form a seal on the steamer. If the tamales are ever close to aluminum, you will taste it!
If making green corn tamales, use the corn the day it is ground. Fresh corn does not retain its sweet flavor longer than a day.
While red tamales may be frozen without harm, green tamales change for the worse in the freezer and take on “a hint of sourness.”
Red tamales reheat well in the microwave oven, wrapped in damp paper towels.
If making red tamales, the meat mixture can be prepared a day or two in advance, thus cutting down on the workload of tamale-making day.
Consider the tamale a breakfast food. Leave the steamed tamal in its husk and heat it in the oven until the husk turns crisp. Open the husk and top the hot steamy corn with a fried egg.