February 2008 - Making Tamales

One of the special foods for holidays in Mexico are tamales. Tamales are made up of either a savory or sweet filling surrounded by a cornmeal dough, all wrapped up in corn husks and then steamed. They are very delicious, but after being involved in preparing tamales, you can see why they are only served at special occasions – they are quite labor intensive.

This year we wanted to serve this festive food for the celebration of Three Kings Day (the Epiphany) at one of our Food Banks in Juarez. We knew it would be a big task to prepare the many dozens of tamales needed to feed all the people. But we had a group of college students visiting from the Franciscan University of Steubenville who were willing to help. With some experienced local helpers guiding us, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

The first task was to get the meat off of 10 big turkeys that had been roasted the previous day. This meat had to be shredded into small pieces so it could be added to the chili mixture. We had pots of red chili and green chili sauce bubbling on the stove and as the meat got shredded, it was stirred in. While the filling was being prepared, the dried, golden corn husks were soaking in a big tub of warm water so that they would become supple and easier to work with.

Now came the time to put it all together. We formed an assembly line with the first station spreading the masa, the soft, white cornmeal dough that gets spooned onto the now-moistened corn husks. These got passed to the next person who put a spoonful of the meat and chili filling in the middle. The next person in the assembly line would carefully fold over the corn husks, making a neat package ready to be put in the steamer. Soon the fragrant aroma of cooking tamales filled the room making everyone hungry, but no one sampled any of the finished product (except the official taster).

The following day at the Food Bank, the college students set out the feast. Steaming hot tamales, fluffy rice, beans, hot tea and cake were served to our brothers and sisters of the colonia. The people cheered and shouted out, “Glory to God” when they saw the tamales, a rare treat for them. The crowd swelled as word spread like wildfire around the neighborhood. Thanks to the students’ hard work, there was plenty for all who came. While not the best looking tamales in the world, everyone agreed that they were delicious, and the people were so touched to know that we had made them ourselves.

“It gave me a lot of joy seeing how happy the people were to get our tamales,” shared one of the students. “It was hard work, but so worth it!”