Hot Tamales – Rio Rancho, New Mexico
While the word tamale is most certainly Spanish, its derivation is from the Nahuatl word tamalli. Tamallis were developed as a portable ration carried by war parties in pre-Columbian North America and were as common and varied as the sandwich is today. One commonality among tamalli then and tamales today, is the corn meal dough (masa) which is made through a process called “nixtamalization.” In pre-Colombian times, the process involved using wood ashes to soften field corn for easier grinding. Today this is done by slaking lime. Interestingly, nixtamalization not only softens field corn, it aids in digestibility and increases the nutrients absorbed by the human body. Though the fundamental component of the tamale remains masa, fillings for this delicious snack or entree are almost as diverse as the imagination, ranging from sweet (pineapple, coconut, pecans, bananas, chocolate and more) to savory and everything in between. There are also tremendous variations in the wrapper which envelops the filling. Dried corn husks are probably the most common, but the descendants of the Meso Americans also use fresh corn husks, banana leaves and the membrane from some agave plants. In New Mexico, we like to think of tamales as being part of…
