Tamal de Cazuela

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Tamal de Cazuela
“Pot Tamal” without Wrapping

Cubans have their beloved tamal en cazuela, Veracruzans have this near relative that must go back to kindred roots in African slave kitchens.  The Cuban version is something between a savory stovetop corn pudding and a polenta, with aromatic seasoning (tomato, onion, green pepper) and chunks of braised pork.  In Cuba it used to be made with the liquid extracted from very starchy ground fresh corn, but nowadays people in the U.S. without access to the right corn often use yellow cornmeal with or without some sweet corn.
The Veracruzan tamal de cazuela has almost the same ingredients, but not quite.  It is made sometimes as a stovetop dish, sometimes as a baked casserole.  Sometimes the meat –- usually either pork or chicken— is cooked separately in its sauce and served as a topping for the corn mixture.  People do make it with fresh corn (in which case it’s called tamal de cazuela de elote), but more often they use corn masa, giving it the distinctive flavor of Mexican mixtamalized corn.  I like to think if the dish as the original “tamale pie”.
I had made some Mole de Xico and simply sauteed some chicken with a little onion and garlic, and some mole de Xico and cooked it until the flavor of the mole had penetrated the chicken well.  I then spread some mole on top just before serving/

The recipe here is a composite version based on several that I’ve eaten and enjoyed in different parts of the state.  I especially like the aniselike fragrance of the hoja santa, the only strong accent in a rather gently seasoned dish.  Don’t be puzzled by the range in the suggested amount of pork or chicken stock; I like to soak the chiles and to reconstitute masa harina in stock rather than water, but I know some cooks will prefer water for both purposes despite the  loss of flavor.

Makes 8 – 10 servings

2 ounces ancho chiles (see page 000; about 6 large chiles), stemmed and seeded
6 – 10 cups (approximately) Caldo de Puerco (see page 000) or Caldo de Pollo (page 000)
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups lard, preferably home-rendered (see page 000)
2 jalapeño chiles
3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound)
6 cups shredded Carne de Puerco Cocida (see page 000)
2 pound masa, fresh or made by reconstituting 4 cups masa harina with about 2 – 2 1/4 cups stock or water (see page 000)
2 – 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
6 large or 12 smaller fresh hoja santa leaves, or 12 dried leaves (see page 000)

Rinse and griddle-dry the ancho chiles by the directions on page 000.  Place in a deep bowl, cover with 2 cups boiling stock or water, and let sit for 20 minutes.  Drain the chiles and puree in a blender with the garlic and enough additional stock or water to help the action of the blades (1/4 – 1/2 cup.)  In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the lard to rippling over medium heat.  Add the chile mixture, reduce the heat to low, and cook, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Place the jalapeño chiles and tomatoes in a small saucepan, cover with boiling water, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.  Drain and let sit until cool enough to handle.  Peel the chiles and tomatoes, puree in the blender (it doesn’t have to be washed), and add to the chile mixture in the pan.  Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the fat starts to separate, about 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat, stir in the shredded pork, and set aside while you prepare the masa mixture.
Place the masa in a large mixing bowl and combine as smoothly as possible with 6 cups of stock (warm or at room temperature), working the mixture with your hands to break up the masa.  With a wooden spoon or pusher, force the mixture through a medium-mesh strainer into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Melt the remaining lard and stir into the mixture along with the salt.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent sticking or lumping, for about 10 – 12 minutes.  The mixture should have a smooth sheen and be thick enough to start coming away from the pan, and you will see a hint of a thin crust starting to form on the bottom.  Remove from the heat and let sit until just cool enough to handle.  (If allowed to cool completely, it will thicken into a jelled mass that’s hard to spread.)
Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Arrange half the hoja santa on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch Pyrex baking dish or other shallow 4-quart ovenproof dish.  Spread half of the warm masa over the hoja santa.  Pour the meat mixture over this and top with the remaining masa and hoja santa.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes; remove the foil and bake until the top is lightly browned, about another 5 minutes.  (It can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 1 day before baking let stand at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes before it goes in the oven.)