"Allen Lydick" > schreef in bericht
m...
> Can anyone give me a short history of Tamales--I need some information for
a
> presentation?
>
> Why are they traditionally served for Christmas--Dianna Kennedy wasn't
much
> help on this?
>
>
History of Tamales

The tamale is recorded as early as 5000 BC, possibly 7000 BC in
Pre-Columbian history. Initially, women were taken along in battle as army
cooks to make the masa for the tortillas and the meats, stews, drinks, etc.
As the warring tribes of the Aztec, Mayan, and Incan cultures grew, the
demand of readying the nixtamal (corn) itself became so overwhelming a
process, a need arose to have a more portable sustaining foodstuff. This
requirement demanded the creativity of the women...hence the tamale was
born. The tamales could be made ahead and packed, to be warmed as needed.
They were steamed, grilled on the comal (grill) over the fire, or put
directly on top of the coals to warm, or they were eaten cold. We have no
record of which culture actually created the tamale but believe that one
started and the others soon followed.

Fillings

The tamale caught on very fast and eventually grew in variety and
diversity unknown in today's culture. There were plain tamales, tamales
with red, green, yellow and black chile, tamales with chocolate, fish
tamales, frog, tadpole, mushroom, rabbit, gopher, turkey, bee, egg, squash
blossom, honey, ox, seed and nut tamales. There were white and red fruit
tamales, white tamales, yellow tamales, dried meat tamales, roasted meat,
stewed meat, bean and rice tamales. There were sweet sugar, pineapple,
raisin, cinnamon, berry, banana and pumpkin tamales. There were hard and
soft cheese tamales, roasted quail tamales, ant, potato, goat, wild boar,
lamb and tomato tamales. Well, you get the idea.

Wrappings

The sizes, colors and shapes varied almost as much as the fillings.
They were steamed, oven-roasted, fire-roasted, toasted, grilled, barbecued,
fried and boiled. The wrappings were cornhusks, banana leaves, fabric,
avocado leaves, soft tree bark, and other edible, non-toxic leaves. The most
commonly used were corn


Tamalada

Over the millennia, the varieties were minimized to the most common now
being red and greed child, chicken, pork, beef, sweet, chile, cheese, and of
late, vegetables. Also changed was the every day occurrence of making the
tamales. With the preparation being so labor and time intensive, tamales
became holiday fare, made for special occasions. This tradition remained for
thousands of years, with the women of the family working together to make
the sauces and meats, preparing the masa, and finally assembling and
wrapping the tamales before steaming them in large pots on the stove. The
process takes all day, the preparation often starting one of two days in
advance. It is virtually unheard of to make a few tamales. In most cases,
when they are made, hundreds are made at a time. Everyone, young, old,
family and friends, is invited to tamale feasts where they are enjoyed,
savored and loved by all.



http://www.students.stedwards.edu/~r...arly%20History



you see David Wright! it was not so difficult to help.



jl