zxcvbob wrote:

> It's almost tamale season, and for several years I've wanted to try making
> homemade tamales but never got around to it -- probably because I'm
> intimidated a little by them. This year I think I'm gonna go for it. I
> have the corn shucks already, and several quarts of goose fat in the
> freezer that needs to be used for *something* before it goes off (I'll use
> it instead of lard because decent lard is very hard to find.)
>
> Should I make chicken or turkey or pork tamales? Besides the shredded
> meat, what else goes in the middles? I've seen recipes that call for
> raisins and weird stuff like that, but I think that's more an Oaxaca thing
> than what I want. I'll probably make them pretty hot, so I was thinking
> of using a little dehydrated onions and garlic, and a mixture of canned
> chipotles in adobo and reconstituted dried ancho peppers. Or maybe
> guajillo or pulla peppers instead of the anchos...
>
> Has anyone here done this before?
>
> When the Mexicans I work with (remotely, from Guadalajara) find out about
> this, I'll never hear the end of it. :-)

Why not make more than one filling? When a friend of mine tried to put
together a tamale party several years ago, these are the fillings I offered:

1. Beef picadillo, with shredded beef, onions, raisins, and cinnamon (I
don't think picadillo is particularly Oaxacan; Cubans, Colombians,
Venezuelans, Hondurans, and Salvadoreans all seem to have something
similar.)

2. Chicken with saffron, orange, and garlic

3. Ham with banana-lemon-ginger chutney

4. Pumpkin (which could be sweet or savory)

5. Cherry-mincemeat

6. Blueberry-maple

With the exception of the picadillo, none of those are *traditional*, but
who cares about that, as long as the food tastes good?


The friend who was organizing the party offered these fillings:

1. Spicy shredded beef

2. Chicken with olives

3. Mushrooms (he wanted to entice an attractive vegan into attending)

4. Pineapple, raisins, and brown sugar


Bob