Tamales by Zarela Martinez for the Slowfood Guide for New York

Photo by www.michaelsofronski.com

Tamales by Zarela Martinez

It makes me inordinately happy to pick up the phone at Zarela and hear somebody ask, “What’s the tamale of the day?” It wouldn’t have happened when we opened fifteen years ago, because people thought all Mexican tamales were the same thing, blobs of some kind of wrapped-up cornmeal mush with a few shreds of meat in an anonymous red sauce. Now diners here understand that tamales exist in countless wonderful varieties.

All the parts of a tamale have to be lovingly crafted by hand. Its soul is masa – – a luscious corn dough not at all like cornmeal mush – – skillfully beaten with very good, flavorful lard to a delicate lightness.  Its heart is a filling – anything from turkey in mole to a savory vegetarian bean mixture – either folded into or cradled on the masa.  And the garment that surround both is a wrapping – – usually of either dried corn husks or banana leaf – – that imparts its own taste to the tamale.  Lastly, the finished tamales are steamed to concentrate all the different flavors inside the wrapping.

Because each of the main elements has many possible variations, there’s immense diversity beyond the deceptive simplicity of tamales.  At Zarela, for example, we may play with the layer of corn masa by folding in the elusive southern Mexican herb called chipilin, or a subtly spiced pumpkin seed mixture, or fresh corn kernels and roasted poblanos with musky (not “musty”) accent of epazote.  Our fillings include (among many others) one my grandmother used to make featuring chicken with green olives and raisins, a kind we used to make at Christimas with pork and red chile sauce, and sophisticated versions with shrimp and jalapenos or earthly huitlacoche, the corn fungus that Mexicans prize like truffles.  We may cap a filling with the anise-scented herbs hoja santa or avocado leaf.

As for the wrapping, we might experiment with regional variations like the fresh cornstalk leaves used instead of corn husks for corundas, the triangular tamales that I ate on my recent visit to Michoacán state.  We might tie tamales with a twist like party favors, or make them in varied shapes like elegant gift packages (which for Mexicans is what they are!).

The payoff of this loving care, for Zarela customer’s, is the moment when the steaming hot tamale is brought to the table and the leaf “gift-wrap” is undone to release the heavenly aroma.  The masa will be light, fluffy foil for the deep-flavored filling, and at one bite you to will understand why tamales have been the Mexican food of celebration since time immemorial.