For the last few years, it has been a tradition that during the holidays my family and Guadalupe (our babysitter/second mom) make tamales together. It's a long process. Today it took four hours with five people working. As much as I would love to share the recipe, there are so many different fillings (pork, 2 chickens, and peppers with cheese), types of masa, and preparation methods that I wouldn't even know where to begin. In all honesty, my family is still learning all of the parts. I do not think that any of us could make a full tamale. Each part takes so long that you have to divvy up the work, so we each only know a few steps. For example, today I was assigned to "The Ring of Fire". This is where you turn on the gas stove and pile green hot peppers over the flames and turn them until they are evenly charred. Although now I feel like a pro at this step, I have no idea how the meats were prepared! Anywho, I hope you enjoy these photos. No more reading-- just take in the pictures and enjoy.
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| Pork |
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| Tomatilla Sauce |
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| Cleaning peppers after the ring of fire |
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| 2 Different Fillings |
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| Chopped green peppers, orange masa has blended red peppers (see above) in it, white masa is behind it. |
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| Masa. It's made fresh daily by La Palma in San Francisco |
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| One of the Shredded Chickens |
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| Pork |
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| The tamales are steamed under some of the unused husks. |
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| Momma Tamale! |
Happy Holidays!!!
