More food inspired by Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
While I discover the secrets of -
Tamales
Not a how to guide or recipe, but the steps involved to get from ingredients to Tamales. It's not difficult, but there's lots of time consuming steps
The pork shoulder joint cubed and slow cooked overnight
--then shredded (it's really soft, so just needs mashing with a fork)
Stalk and de-seed the chillies
Boil 'em up for 15 mins or so to soften, add garlic and spices etc
Blitz and sieve the puree
add to the meat
Put the Masa Harina (flour) in a bowl , add a bit of the chilli paste for colour and flavour, add lots of melted lard, and mix with some of the "Broth/liquor" from cooking the pork, and mix to a sticky batter like dough
Most recipes I've seen call for dried corn husks, I used fresh ones, soaked .
Spread a layer of batter in the corn husk, add the meat mix
Fold or fold/tie the husks around the mix
Stack them in a steamer, cover and steam for 90 mins or so
--and miraculously, you have savoury, spicy little parcels, and,
Ari, (or maybe Benjamin) is right, they do heat up well in an oven
Thanks to Benjamin Alire Saenz, for the book, and the various recipes
combined here to make these
