Gareth Evans wrote:
> HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!
> I live in the UK (it get's worse...) I am feeding 6 hungry guys on Tuesday
> night and I have promised them Tamales. There is 1 (one...count 'em!)
> supermarket in the area which stocked masa harina up until the last time I
> shopped there, when I bought (and used) their last packets. I have a mail
> order supplier, but there's no way they can get it to me in time....can you
> see how much trouble I'm in???
> I have half a pound of the stuff left and what I was wondering is, can I mix
> the masa harina with fine yellow cornmeal and get an acceptable result?
> Has anyone ever tried this?
> I am reluctant to experiment on my own as don't want to waste the real nice
> batch of shredded pork I just cooked up for a filling!!!
>
> Any help appreciated!!!

Here's a link to a tamale page included in my collection of food
related web pages...

http://home.pacbell.net/macknet/tamales.html

I don't usually add cornmeal to my masa for tamales, but have on
occasion. I've included two recipes that use a combination of masa
harina and cornmeal at one-half cup cornmeal to one plus one-quarter
cups masa harina. Also included in the dough is pureed whole kernel
corn. You could probably leave that out if you choose, provided you
compensate for the extra moisture the pureed corn provides. The
filling is vegetarian, but I see no reason a shredded pork filling
couldn't be used.

Hopefully, you'll receive some more input from others on the list to
allow you to choose what looks like it will work best for you.

Rich