I spend a lot of time reading about food. It's what I like doing the most; yet, when I sat down to write this particular post, I realised most of what I know about Tamales was from either the stories my mother and grandma had or from general common knowledge. I decided to research a little bit more about it, what I found out really surprised me! For example, did you know that the oldest records place tamales as far back as 1200 BC in Mayan paintings?! or that the Franciscan Friar, Bernardino de Sahagun (a most remarckable historian and ethnographer who dedicated over 50 years of his life to the study and documenting of the Aztec people's culture and traditions) has a whole section dedicated to Tamales with detailed descriptions of what they were, how they were cooked and eaten and when in his 16th century manuscripts entitled 'General History of the Things of the New Spain'?! I certainly didn't! So I'm sharing some of what I knew and some of the new bits I learned here with you.

A Tamal (not Tamale) is a parcel made of maize dough, which has been stuffed with either a savoury or a sweet filling, wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf and then steamed until cooked. The husks or leaves are discarded before eating as they are only a vessel for the dish inside. It is only in very few cases that edible leaves of avocado and local plants are used as wrapping so they are eaten as part of the tamal, in general, however, the leaves are unedible, so to be on the safe side, if you're given a Tamal, don't eat the husk! 

The word Tamal came from the term 'Tamalli', a Nahuatl (Aztec) word meaning 'wrapped'. I found out that there are close to 500 original, regional recipes catalogued in Mexico alone, out of which as many as 5000 variation recipes have been recorded (5001 if you count this one!). They were eaten widely by both nobles & common people in prehispanic Mexico during religious festivals and special days. Some historians speak about the tamales being used as food to go or to take into a journey as the dough and husk or leaf would help preserve and protect the meat inside. The tamal would be heated in a wood fire, husk and everthing on, and unwrapped when heated through to eat the contents. The husks served as both protection and a sort of container to eat the tamal from. In a funny sort of way, we still do that, unwrap a tamal and eat it off the husk on a plate.

Tamales are a dish that is eaten in the whole of the country. Every region has different fillings based on local ingredients and perhaps a slightly different way to make them, but the ancient tradition, cooking method and basic recipe remain the same since 1200 BC! They are a celebratory meal and a sort of right of passage for many women in Mexico. I dare find a Mexican family who hasn't, at some point, gathered the women and children of the family in the kitchen to help make a bunch of these for a party or for Christmas! Nowadays, there are many commercial companies supplying them to supermarkets, but in rural Mexico, many women still make them by hand and enterprisingly sell them at their village market to earn a living. A tamal made by hand is so much more satisfying than one bought in a shop. It also preserves a tradition that is as old as Mexican time.

While traditionally in the North of Mexico we use cheddar or another hard cheese to make these tamales, here I used my home made spiced beans and my favourite Irish Goats Cheese, St. Tola's Original, as a filling; I loved the way the cheese softens and runs into the beans withouth completely melting into them; it complements the flavour of the beans so well and it adds an airy texture to the filling. It works fantastically well with the dish as a whole. I hope you like them as much as we did!

Note: making tamales is hard work, but it can be great fun if you have the family helping or invite a few friends with the promise of a nice meal after! Trust me, they are worth all the effort.

I rarely use dried chipotle chilies in my cooking. I much prefer chipotles in adobo sauce, as they are sweeter, easier to incorporate and less labour intense because they've been rehydrated and cooked in an adobo sauce. Yet I keep a pretty glass jar of the dried chipotles in my pantry just in case I ever decide to make this salsa... it's a bit of a polarizer at home: Alan hates it, I love it!

I found its original, premitive form in one of my mom's handwritten kitchen notebooks. The first time I tried it, I thought it was a bit unbalanced... too bitter, mainly because it asked for far too much tequila (and mama says she doesn't like booze!!). I was intrigued by the idea and I knew that the ingredients should work together, so I kept trying and spent about a year tweaking it until I got it just as I like it... hope you do too!

I used Mexican piloncillo a raw sugar cane, rich in smokey caramel flavours, a bit like molases. It gives the salsa another layer of flavour, a richness and a sweetness that enhances its taste. You can substitute it for demerara sugar, but you will need to use more than the 15 grams to achieve anything close to the depth of flavour that piloncillo gives.