When Paola Briseño Gonzales growing up in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, tamales were a street food—the kind of thing you'd grab and eat every day of the year. They weren't exactly front and center during her holiday dinners.
That all changed when she moved to Southern California. “Tamales are (a centerpiece) here,” notes the chef, writer and event producer of their importance during the United States holiday. “(Making tamales during the holidays is) a new tradition that started for me when I moved to LA” And it all started with Thanksgiving.
Or, rather, Thanksgiving residues. One year, Gonzáles and her husband, TACO editor Javier Cabral, was gifted holiday leftovers from Cabral's mother: turkey in a salsa roja. Cabral thought he would make delicious pot pie, but Briseño had another idea: tamales.
Admittedly, it was a little early for holiday tamale season. In Mexico, its beginning is generally marked by the start of our winter holidays. The posada tradition begins in mid-December—when the tamales are served with a hot cup of ponche—and lasts until February 2, Dia de La Candelaria.
But for some Mexican Americans in the United States, the season of holiday tamales begins even earlier, when they are served during Thanksgiving. Or even during the day AFTER Thanksgiving, when they are filled with leftovers from the holiday. “It's perfect because you can just grab a bunch of leftovers and it's great for making lots of tamales,” he says. There was Jinichhost of the PBS show Pat's Mexican Tablechef and author of three cookbooks.
Courtesy of Pati Jinich
But even though these ancestral treats (over 10,000 years old) are a perfect vehicle for leftovers, they're not exactly a quick and easy dinner. Tamales are a labor of love and making them is optimal with a group of people to share the task. For Briseño it started with just Javier, her and her two shepherd dogs on their tamale assembly line; now this tradition of recalentado (reheating leftovers) has become so precious that the family shares it with friends.
Briseño makes some salsa, asks friends to bring Thanksgiving leftovers, and they spend the day making tamales together. What's best is that Briseño doesn't care if you don't know how to make them. “I'll sit them down and say, 'Do this,' and if they say, 'We don't know how to make tamales,' that's fine. You will learn today!”
ABOUT Andres M. Garza, chef and co-owner of Neighborhood Molino in McAllen, Texas, tamales have been part of the Thanksgiving feast since they moved to the United States from Mexico. “Tamales were always present,” Garza recounts of the annual celebrations with their mother's family. Along with their cousins, they watched their grandmother prepare them for dinner, waiting until they dug into the norteño-style tamales and devoured them.
The tamales were small, and Garza says they could eat up to six or more as children. Whenever they made leftover tamales, their family used roasted turkey in red salsa, or leftover casserole turned into cheese tamales de elote. Today, Garza has his sights set on the sweet tamales left over from the upcoming festivities. “I want to make pumpkin pie tamales next,” they say.
Rick Holbrook
The delicate taste of time lends itself to a plethora of filling combinations, and Garza says they encourage people to experiment and mix cultures through the masses. “I've always overcomplicated it or put too much pressure on it to make them perfect, but making them more and more opens up your world to so much,” marvels Garza.
They advise seasoning the masa a bit more if you're making tamales at home: “Make sure your masa is a little savory when it's uncooked or your tamale will be mushy. If you are going to taste, make your mixture slightly salty. If you want sweet, make it a little sweet. When you cook them, the flavors will mellow.”
Although Chef Garza tries to communicate their feelings about this day, they take this time to engage in meaningful conversations about this settler colonial holiday with their family, friends and community. “I recognize this day as the National Day of Mourning… In the gathering, I hope to re-indigenize this day to the best of my ability for those around me.” One of the ways they do this is by continuing the tamale tradition—which was passed down from their grandmother, who was deported a few years ago and is now absent from this fall holiday—and the maíz heritage. “I continue the tradition now by using fresh heirloom masa that I grind myself. I try to share that with my chosen family and my community as best I can.”
As for Briseño, leftover tamales the day after Thanksgiving dinner have become a tradition she's created around family and friends she's made in the United States. She'll even ship her delicious corn creations overnight to a lucky few at her first US home in Portland, Oregon. It's not a cheap gesture, with nightly rates costing up to $100, but it's all in the holiday spirit. “I consider it my Christmas present to them,” says Briseño.
Pati Jinich has shared her recipe for Tamales Tapatios (Chicken Tamales from Jalisco)which make a great blank canvas for all kinds of inspired leftover fillings.
Cover photo by Rick Holbrook.
