Ever Make Over 100 Tamales?
Little did I know when my Yelapan family asked me over to cut a peice of cake that I would be responsible for making tamales for the whole extended family! January 6th is a big holiday in Latin America. It’s the Day Of The Kings when the 3 kings brought gifts to baby Jesus. Families in the evening gather around a beautiful flat cake in the shape of a wreath. Each person cuts their own peice of the cake. The cake has a little plastice doll hidden in it. Who ever cuts the cake and gets the piece called El Mono (the doll) is then responsible to make tamales for the whole family on Feb. 2nd.
I had gotten home late after a day away from Yelapa and my family came over and insisted that I come over to cut a peice of the cake. Great laughs were had by all as I bit into El Mono. For the rest of the month of January, all my family and neighbors excitedly talked with me reminding me of the upcoming date to make tamales. Fortunately Celita worked with me using her families secret recipe and the kids joined in the fun of mixing the masa and tying the cornhusks filled with delicious vegetables mixed with chicken. In my excitment I invited all my neighbors over and the kids from my yoga class to join in the tamale feast. Over 100 tamales fed quite a crowd and I’ve now learned how to make tamales. Whew, they are very time intensive and create quite a mess to produce. I think the kids and I loved mixing the masa the most.
