Post Punk Kitchen Forum

My kids need tamales. They want to make them for Christmas. I am looking for blog posts, forum posts, cookbook suggestions, thoughts, feelings, whatever you deem appropriate for proper tamale making.

I am a good cook and I have many hands :)

I think you need 'Viva Vegan' ( by Terry Hope Romero) in your life.

Maybe you can get it from the library? If you are into latin food anyway I can only recommend this book to you. There is also a helpful thread on this book in the cookbook section of this forum.

Ooh, making tamales is fun. If you have a Mexican supermarket nearby, get as many supplies there as possible since stuff will be more expensive at mainstream markets.

Viva Vegan for SURE. The tamale dough recipe in there is really amazing. So are the fillings.

Tamales are really fun to make! Make sure you set aside a lot of time for them. I advise making the fillings the day before making the actual tamales, or at the very least do it in the morning, then assemble in the afternoon/evening.

Also, plan your time accordingly. If you only have one pot for steaming the tamales, break up the assembly by the hour, so you don't have 93590459043 tamales sitting there ready to be steamed. I did that once, and I thought it dried them out. I only have one (small) pot. So I make a couple of batches, set them to steam, take a 15 minute (usually cleaning) break, then start making the next couple. That way you dont have a batch of tamales sitting on the counter for more than an hour at a time.

I really need a good tamale pot. The really tall ones that can fit a couple of dozen tamales in there. Mine fits only about a dozen really small ones at a time.

the most recent issue of veg times, dec 2012, does have a feature on tamales starting on page 38....i think it's a big feature, with a couple of other dishes too, and it ends on page 47.....

not all ingredients, like heavy cream, are vegan :( everything is from scratch though!!

Oh, at our local Mexican market I bought a giant tamale steamer pot. I don't think it was terribly expensive, and we've used it for steaming other stuff too. It was worth the investment...

I have seen the cover of Viva before, but never paid attention. That is the most perfectness cookbook for our family. My kids love beans, tortillas, rice, and corn!!!

I found a used copy and am hoping it gets here before Christmas, otherwise we will have New Years Tamales!!!

If you can't wait for the book, there are a few recipes on Terry's blog (veganlatina.com) - just search for tamales.

Tamales are fun. My family uses corn husks (you soak them in water) and paper wrappers to make sure everything stays in. I like a flavored masa so I like adding chile powder. If you can invite other people over, it makes it better because things can go much quicker.