While the marriage didn't last, the memories of the country, the people, the food, and all I learned down there stays with me always. I learned to cook down there. All from scratch, too. My older 3 children remember the foods very well. The youngest was just turning 3 when we moved back to the States. She recalls the foods because of what I have continued to cook. Food memories are very strong, and they really evoke the feeling of time and place, so whenever I make something Guatemalan, I am at once back there in memory. I have a lot of very lovely memories of my time there, and am eternally grateful that I had the chance to experience that culture.
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| Paches Guatemaltecos, photo courtesy of Guatemala.com |
The recipe for tamales that got me dreaming today is the one traditionally made at Christmas time. There are savory tamales and "sweet" tamales, for Christmas. The savory ones have a red sauce over top (made red by free use of annato seeds), and the sweet ones have chocolate added to their sauce. When I first went down there with my Dad, I tried them, but didn't much care for them. Too different, to a not-quite-twenty-year-old. The sweet tamales were passable. As time went on, and I learned to make them and ate them more and more often, I swung over to loving the savory ones far more.
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| Making Tamalitos de Elote |
Tamales are just about anything wrapped into packets and steamed. In Guatemala, "tamales" are generally thought of as the ones I just posted the recipe for, but other things are also tamales, such as "Paches", which are a potato based tamal, rather than corn and / or rice. Then "Tamalitos de Elote", which are tiny sweet tamales made from not quite dry field corn, ground and folded into the same green corn husks - delicious! I finally got an opportunity to get some field corn last year and made them for the first time in over 30 years. I photo documented every step of the way. And then forgot to get a photo of a finished tamalito, unwrapped.
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| Tamalitos de Elote, photo courtesy of KiwiLimon.com |
Some tamalitos (meaning "little tamales") are just corn masa dough, and my ex father-in-law was particularly fond of "Tamalitos de Chipilin". Chipilin is a weed/herb used mainly in Mexico and Central America. It is sometimes mixed into the plain corn masa dough. One last type of tamal is called a "Chuchito" (see one below, to the right), and it is the most similar to what we in the States know as Mexican tamales.
So, I spent the day reminiscing and longing for some of the foods I ate while in Guatemala. I wish I could share them with all of you! Unfortunately, with no access to maxan leaves, nor even banana leaves, I haven't made tamales for a long time now. Thus, I have no photos of my own. For now, here is my recipe, from my mother-in-law:
Tamales Quetzaltecos
Makes 60 to 80 tamales
INGREDIENTS:
1 turkey, cut up into 2 - 3-inch chunks, bone and all (at least 12 lbs)
2 pounds white rice (3 pounds for larger amount)
1 pound white hominy (2 pounds for larger amount)
12 ounces shortening or lard (less if stock is fatty)
1 large pinch saffron
4 ounces unhulled sesame seeds
4 ounces pumpkin seeds
12 tomatillos
12 roma tomatoes
4 red bell peppers
1 dried hot red chile (optional)
2 dried pasilla or ancho chiles
3 inches of stick cinnamon (true cinnamon)
4 whole cloves
4 slices day-old French bread
4 tablespoons shortening or lard
FOR SAVORY TAMALES:
salt, to taste
½ cup annato seeds (or more, as needed)
FOR SWEET TAMALES:
sugar, to taste
"Mexican style" chocolate, to taste
TO ADORN:
- bottled whole pimientos, cut into long thin strips
- capers
- olives, with pits
- almonds, blanched, peeled, sliced
- raisins
- prunes
1. Two days in advance, wash the rice, rinse and drain. Set it to dry on large flat cookie sheets with rims.
2. The day before, cut up the turkey (or chicken or pork or duck) into pieces of a size for the tamal, put them in a very large pot and boil with the saffron, some salt (do not over salt at this time), and an onion. Bring to a boil and cook till meat is done. Remove from heat and set to cool. If the pot is too large for the fridge, outside is fine (in winters up north!) as long as it is cold out and the pot has a strong lid!
3. The morning of Tamal Day, remove the meat pieces to a bowl and strain the stock into another large pot. Bring the stock to a boil.
4. The rice should be thoroughly dry. If not, set in a very low oven with the door ajar and turn often, till dry. Grind the rice in a grain mill till fine, but still with granules. It should not be flour! More like the consistency of Cream of Rice cereal. Do not try to substitute Cream of Rice Cereal - I tried it and it comes out FAR too runny!
5. Grind or blend the hominy till very fine with a bit of water. Mix in more water till you have about a quart of liquid or so. Set aside.
6. Once the stock is boiling, and stirring constantly, pour in the rice in a fine stream, till all incorporated. If the stock was not too fatty, or you are using water instead of stock, add the 12 oz. of shortening or lard, otherwise cut this quantity in half.
7. As the rice begins to cook, add, a little at a time, the liquidized hominy, stirring continually. Be careful that the heat is not too high so the masa does not burn. (Be very careful to wear oven mitts to stir, as the masa, once boiling, can burn badly!) Once the masa begins to boil, allow it to boil for about 15 minutes, stirring all the while. This takes about one hour, total. Remove from heat.
8. Continue to stir the masa, off the heat, until it is cool enough to insert a finger for about a half-minute without getting burnt. (Here is where someone to help comes in handy.) This maintains softness and pliability of the masa; otherwise it would cool to one large lump!
9. Once cooled, separate into two containers; one for savory and one for sweet. Add salt to the savory masa and sugar to the sweet. If the masa has thickened too much, add some water to thin it and stir well.
FOR THE SAUCE(S) (Recado)
1. In a dry skillet, over medium high heat, toast separately - the sesame seeds, the pumpkin seeds, the cinnamon and cloves. Be especially careful of the sesame and pumpkin seeds – they will continue to cook once off the heat and can burn! Once burnt, you will need to start over with fresh seeds, the burnt flavor is that bad.
2. In a good-sized saucepan, put the tomatoes, tomatillos, red bell peppers (seeds and stems cut out), the “Pasilla” or “Ancho” dried chiles (whole – remove seeds and stems after cooking), and the hot dried chile, if desired, and nearly cover with water. Set to cook until all are cooked through. Take the Ancho or Pasilla Chiles and remove stems and seeds. Saving the cooking water, remove all the vegetables to a blender or a food mill (Food mill will remove skin and seeds, resulting in a smoother sauce).
3. Grind the seeds and spices finely in a food grinder, or put them into the blender with a little of the pureed vegetables as a liquid base and blend till fine. Add the spices to the pureed vegetables. Add a little ground black pepper, to taste.
4. Put the 4 pieces of French bread into the cooking water until they have softened, then blend them to a fine paste also; add to the sauce. Stir the sauce over medium heat till it thickens slightly and add the 2 oz. of shortening or lard. Once incorporated, take off heat and divide into two pots – one for the savory tamales and one for the sweet.
5. In the pot for the savory sauce, use annato seeds to color and flavor, till you get a nice orange color. (In a small saucepan, heat a very small amount of water with a handful of annato seeds, till it begins to give off color. Then rub through a sieve or a food mill to extract as much color as possible.) Add a bit of salt, to taste.
6. In the pot for the sweet sauce, add Mexican Chocolate, grated (this contains sugar already, so there is no need to add sugar). If no Mexican chocolate is available, use (½ square at a time) Baker's unsweetened chocolate to reach the desired color, then add sugar to taste. The sweetness should be distinguishable, but not terribly sweet. Too much sugar will also thin the sauce.
PREPARE LEAVES:
1. If using banana leaves fresh – wash well, then pass them through boiling water to soften.
2. If using frozen banana leaves, thaw, and wash.
3. If no leaves are available, use squares of parchment.
4. With leaves, you will need a larger outer “wrapper” plus an inner “serving” leaf per tamal.
5. With parchment, just the one sheet is all that is needed.
My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.
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