As I unwrap the husk, sweet corn aromas spiked with pungent pasilla chiles swirl around me.With the touch of my fork against the light, spongy masa, rivulets of dark red chili sauce gush forth.Like just about everyone in Los Angeles, I’ve happily eaten tamales of every shape and flavor, in styles from all around Latin America.Whether wrapped in dried corn husks, banana or avocado leaves, filled with pork, peppers or chocolate, this traditional Christmas holiday treat is available here all year long in a seemingly endless variety.But this was the first time I’d waited by the stove for my own tamales to cook, and then, with the masa still puffed full of hot steam, devoured one after another after another.Compared with the typical dense, relatively dry tamales we buy in stores or Mexican restaurants, which have to be reheated, these were moist packets of creamy masa still alive with flavor -- and plenty of saucy filling.That’s how Alice Tapp and her daughter, the owners of Tamara’s Tamales in Venice, perfected their techniques.Alice’s Mexican grandmother taught her how to make tamales when she was a little girl in East Los Angeles; she loved to join her grandmother’s friends selling the corn husk-wrapped treats after Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe.Collecting tamale recipes and chronicling the centuries-old traditions for herself and her American children became a lifelong hobby.We settled on red pork chili, traditional for Christmas but delicious anytime.Alice, her daughter Tamara Tapp and Alice’s sister Diane Tarango (the tamale sauce expert in the family) join me in the tamale shop’s kitchen to let me in on the secrets.We’ll prepare the masa, spread it on the cleaned, soaked corn husks, add filling of red pork chili, wrap them and steam them.Start by preparing the masa with fat, broth and a pinch of salt, Alice says.After reading cookbooks by the renowned Mexican food authority Diana Kennedy, I’m a little worried that unless I render the pork lard myself, just like the ancients did, any tamale I make will be a tragic failure.Alice, who dislikes both the taste of Crisco and the bland processed lard now available, has experimented with everything.“It has the animal fat that works so well with the masa and yet has flavors that today’s lard lacks.” But the shop’s customers, she says, considered the butter tamales too rich and, in their minds, unhealthy.Tamara’s Tamales now are made with Alta Dena Golden Sweet, a soy-based margarine.With margarine or shortening, the masa gets fluffier, but I think it can be too dry,” Alice says.Pecans and walnuts also don’t hold up to that kind of heat treatment.That way the assembly line of family and friends can work smoothly.To achieve this, Tamara rolls an assembled tamale on an 8-inch-wide husk into a 3-inch-wide log.The pointed half of the husk, which hasn’t been spread with masa and doesn’t contain filling, is folded up to meet the open end of the tamale.Return the mixer to high speed and whip for 3 to 5 minutes, until the masa is the consistency of spackle.If necessary, add more stock, one-fourth cup at a time, until the correct consistency is attained.If the masa floats, it is ready; if it sinks, continue whipping it for another minute.Place the pork, onion and garlic in a large pot and cover with water.Carefully remove the meat from the pot and place on a large platter to cool.Combine the cubed pork and the chili sauce in a large bowl.To assemble the tamales, spread one-third to one-half cup masa on the smooth side of a corn husk.To steam the tamales, fill a large pot that has a steamer basket insert with 4 to 6 inches of water.Remove from heat and add the chiles, pushing them down with a spoon so they are fully submerged.Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, boil the onions in water until soft, about 25 minutes.Remove the soaked chiles from the water, reserving 2 cups of the liquid.In a food processor, blend the chiles, onions and garlic until pureed.Add just enough additional stock and reserved liquid to make a sauce the consistency of thin gravy.Add the sugar and salt and cook for 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is the consistency of a thin gravy.Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days, or in the freezer for 2 to 3 months.
Edward R. Forte
Author
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