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EveryParampara

Tamale

Corn dough with a filling, steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf, made for festivals in Latin America.

A pattern drawn for this page, not a picture of Tamale.

Also: tamal, hallaca

A tamale is a parcel of masa, corn dough, filled with meat, cheese, chillies or sweets, wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf and steamed. Aztec and Maya cooks made them centuries ago, and they are now made across Mexico, Central and South America, and in Latino communities in the United States. Making tamales is a social event, a tamalada, in which family members spread dough, add filling and fold the wrappers. They are central to Christmas, the Day of the Candles on 2 February and the Day of the Dead. In Venezuela, the hallaca is the Christmas version, wrapped in banana leaf and tied with string.

Region: Latin America and the Caribbean

See also

PosadaRosca de reyesOfrenda

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