Innermost Thought

« What would Pru Do? | Main | Gold, Frankincense and Myrr »

December 27, 2004

Rolling some Fat Ones

I made tamales this year for Christmas with my father and mom and my father's wife. This year's meager batch of 17 dozen marked the third time I've made tamales ever and the second time I've made them as the "head chef". They are a family recipe. My grandmother and family and friends used to gather at Christmastime and make thousands of tamales. My grandmother's tamales were considered the family gold.

This year's batch turned out rather well. The masa was well cooked and the meat was the closest I've ever come to making it like Grandma did. I only had to call my Aunt Helen once to confirm something she had told me when I made 34 dozen two years before. I did have an issue with some burnt ojas but I blame that result on the tools provided. Even the ones with charred husks have a savory, unique if slightly smoky flavor.

This is the first year I feel I really have the whole process down. I feel like I could possibly teach someone (or a crew) how to make them on my own...and that's a big step. Rolling tamals is the best part of the whole process. For the better part of a day my grandmother and the women of the family and their friends would sit around and assemble tamales. Open the ojas, spread the masa, pack the meat and roll over and over again until they've made in the neighborhood of 150 dozen. While it seems tedious, and at times it is, this is the time when the women talk. Oral histories of generations of Lucios passed down from woman to woman, tamale by tamale. Perhaps this is the reason I think they taste so good. There are stories, anecdotes and secrets in that masa which unlike salt stays within the corn husk throughout the steaming process.

A book I read recently said that tamales traditionally were shared as an offering to gods and loved ones who have passed. This must have made some kind of psychic sense to me. After my first tamale making experience with my Aunt Helen, and dad, and Martha (an honorary Lucio) and others, I went to my grandmother's grave and shared with her my first tamale. I know she was pleased and saw in it what I did; a good start. This year's batch is the first I've made with which I think she would be truly unbiasedly impressed.

Thank you to all who participated in the project and to all who have accepted them to their table. If you get a chance, tell me what you think.

Posted by mermu at December 27, 2004 01:36 AM

Comments

Posted by: Kathleen at December 31, 2004 07:13 AM

Post a comment