Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Tamales: A Latin holiday tradition

Dona Maria Tamales Restaurant

Leila Navidi

Alfredo Martinez spreads masa on corn husks to make tamales at Dona Maria Tamales in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011.

Where to get tamales

• Dona Maria Tamales Restaurant: Las Vegas’ standard bearer for tamales. The restaurant churns out 7,000 pounds of tamales a week during the holidays and has been at it for more than three decades.

Downtown — 910 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas 702-382-6538

Northwest — 3205 N. Tenaya Way, Las Vegas, 702-656-1600

• Mundo: At lunch, the fine-dining Mexican restaurant at World Market Center offers short rib, shrimp and pulled chicken tamales.

495 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas, 702-270-4400

• Leticia’s Mexican Cocina: Traditional tamales on the west side, including the award-winning chipotle fajita tamales. Order holiday tamales by the dozen.

7585 Norman Rockwell Lane, Building 1, Las Vegas, 702-445-7722

When others are planning end-of-the-year vacations and winding down work schedules for the holidays, local tamale makers get down to business.

Orders of masa, the corn meal used to make tamales, multiply by 10 or more at restaurants and markets in Southern Nevada.

Tamales are a traditional Christmas food in many Latin American countries, including Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama and Venezuela, where they are called hallacas. They typically are made with a meat, cheese, fruit or vegetable filling, stuffed in a corn-based dough, then wrapped in a corn husk or other plant leaf to hold the contents together and keep them moist during cooking.

Tamales date to the Mayan and Aztec civilizations and were made for feasts as early as 5,000 B.C.

Why are they considered holiday fare? Making them involves multiple steps and can be labor intensive. So families gather and form assembly lines to get the job done efficiently.

The process involves grinding corn meal into flour, preparing the filling, and softening the corn husks by soaking them in warm water. Typically, tamales are steamed in a large metal pan or pot.

Today, most ingredients can be found at grocery stores; chile peppers, corn husks and dough also usually are available at Hispanic markets.

At Dona Maria Tamales Restaurant, which opened in 1979, cooks make 7,000 pounds of tamales each week leading up to the holidays. During the rest of they year, they average 200 to 400 pounds per week.

As tamales spread from Mexico, variations particular to certain countries developed. Many Central American countries use plantain leaves instead of corn husks, and in Peru and Bolivia, the tamales tend to be spicy, large and wrapped in banana leaves.

Most commonly, tamales are filled with chicken, pork or cheese, although dessert tamales also are popular.

How to fold a tamale

1. Spread the masa filling in a 4x4-inch square, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides and a 2-inch border on the narrow end. Fill to the edge of the wide end.

2. Add additional filling to the middle.

3. Fold in each side of the corn husk to cover the dough.

4. Fold up the bottom of the husk.

5. Tie with string or a strip of corn husk.

Recipe: Pumpkin chocolate chip tamales

(Provided by Dona Maria Tamales Restaurant

Makes three dozen tamales

INGREDIENTS

36-40 dried corn husks

2 lbs masa

2 29 oz cans of pumpkin puree

2 C brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground clove (optional)

1 16 oz can of condensed milk

1 stick softened unsalted butter

1 C mini chocolate chips

1 C walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Soak the corn husks in water for 30 minutes or until they are soft. Clean them and lay them flat.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine masa, pumpkin puree, condensed milk and butter. Make sure all small clumps have been removed. Mix in all dry ingredients. Once mixed well, fold in chocolate chips and walnuts.

3. Fill a corn husk, smooth side up, with 2 to 3 tablespoons of masa filling. Fold and stack in a steamer in a colander or steaming basket with open end up. Repeat until masa is gone.

4. Fill the steamer with water that reaches 2 inches from the bottom of the tamales. Cook for 60 minutes or until the filling no longer sticks to the corn husk. Throughout the cooking process, make sure there is plenty of water in the steamer and refill if necessary.

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