How to make Tamales

Vegetarian Tamales (Photo: Margarita Persico)

There are hundreds of varieties of tamales throughout Latin America. Tamales are of American indigenous roots. Cornmeal and/or masa have been used as a staple food throughout the Americas from the USA through South America. Mexican food has popularized tamales in the USA, but in the Guatemalan cuisine tamales are very popular and there is a large variety of tamales, some say prepared in over a hundred different ways.

In Costa Rica tamales is a very popular food during Christmas time. As with the Puerto Rican pasteles, tamale making is a family project where many participate. Puerto Rico also has a form of tamales, though unknown to many Puerto Ricans, not sure why—perhaps due to 400 years under Spanish rule and now over 100 as a USA commonwealth. The tamales in Puerto Rico are called Guanimes. Though they are made from corn masa, they are prepared very different from the tamales in the rest of Latin Americas—these have Caribbean/Creole flair and no meat is used, only fish in a Creole sauce. Below is a movie recipe for making the tradition tamales. Enjoy the movie, and please share your tamale recipes with us at The Healthy Dish.

Pura Vida!