Support NeoGAF

Pastry · Dec 18, 2013

In about a weeks time I'm going to be sitting at the table for Christmas dinner ignoring every food that isn't tamales. My grandmother and aunt make a huge batch every year, what type depends on if anyone in the family has gone hunting recently. Homemade pork tamales from a recently killed hog are just about the greatest thing ever.

What type of tamales are your favorites? Does your family make them or do you purchase them from an old lady your family knows?

haZethew0rld · Dec 18, 2013

Tamale tamale tamale tamaleeeee

Omegasquash · Dec 18, 2013

This sounds like a delicious tradition. It's one my family has never undertaken, however.

I'll begin lobbying for it immediately, as tamales are like Twinkies made of far better things.

maxxpower · Dec 18, 2013

Yes sir it is. I'm gonna eat about twenty of those bastards.

alterno69 · Dec 18, 2013

Well, here(Mexico) we eat tamales often so no tamales on Christmas dinner, only "fancy" shit like turkey and stuff.

CarpeDeezNutz · Dec 18, 2013

My fav are the pork ones, my family makes them.

Ever tried the sweet tamales? I don't really like those.

Paskil · Dec 18, 2013

My favorite local restaurant was selling them by the dozen for $14.50. They normally charge $6 for two with rice and beans. I got a dozen with some type of green pork. So fucking delicious, they were gone by the next night and I hated myself so much, lol. This places pastor tacos could probably vaguely compete with some of those fancy trucks you lucky bastards have out west and down south.

braves01 · Dec 18, 2013

I had a Mexican friend in hs whose mom always made these. It's good shit ese, but lots of work.

Pastry · Dec 18, 2013

CarpeDeezNutz said:
My fav are the pork ones, my family makes them.

Ever tried the sweet tamales? I don't really like those.

I really don't like sweet ones either, I'll eat them if they're the last ones left though.

MattDoza · Dec 18, 2013

Also is/was a tradition for my family, as well. Probably won't happen this year, unfortunately.

desertdroog · Dec 18, 2013

I'm a fan of the Green Chile style.

joeyjoejoeshabadoo · Dec 18, 2013

Love me some green chile and cheese and sweet tamales. One downside of visiting my wife's family for Christmas is I don't get to eat tamales.

Ferrio · Dec 18, 2013

TylerD · Dec 18, 2013

Coworker took orders for tamales before Thanksgiving and he is doing it again this week. $8 a dozen and they are amazing. Really good size.

I got a dozen hot\pork, dozen chicken, dozen chile con queso. Have 6 left. They freeze and then reheat in a microwave surprisingly well. Just heat them in the freezer bags that you store them (4 per bag for me) in and they stay moist and delicious.

He only picked up 90 dozen last time he went lol.

Ekdrm2d1 · Dec 18, 2013

CarpeDeezNutz said:
My fav are the pork ones, my family makes them.

Ever tried the sweet tamales? I don't really like those.

Coworker brought in home made pork tamales today. Once I heard pork I turned around.
Heard they were delish though

Pastry · Dec 18, 2013

Ferrio said:

Haha when we were kids my Mom would read this to us every Christmas.

oyoshimaru · Dec 18, 2013

I have tamales on Christmas and Pozole on New Years, every year. Here we go!

My moms cooking is off the mo fucking chain.

diggmcbadass · Dec 18, 2013

Your family hunt pigs?

studyguy · Dec 18, 2013

Ferrio said:

Fuck, I always take some home and end up with a shitload of them for a week.
Seriously though, this is like a tradition with the family that they all come to one house and the aunts make them together with the kids while the uncles all go into the garage, drink and play poker.

As a kid you play with the other kids, make a tamale if you're small enough, but otherwise do dumb shit with your cousins. If you're a girl you eventually grow old enough to lounge with the older girls who eventually get old enough to simply sit around with all the aunts.

The boys just do dumb shit till they get old enough to drink or cook on the bbq and play poker or do whatever your family does. Maybe karaoke, maybe just watch some stuff. Maybe nothing I don't know.

Enjoy for families people. At 26, I try to make the most of these times as I'm seeing my older family really start to age.

bjork · Dec 18, 2013

I worked with a dude who made prison tamales out of corn chips and beans or something, with some saran wrap and a microwave. Pretty tasty in a pinch.

joeyjoejoeshabadoo · Dec 18, 2013

Ferrio said:

Bullshit! There is never too many tamales.

pizza dog · Dec 18, 2013

We're friends with an old Mexican lady who makes the slamminest tamales. We have 'em for New Year's usually though.

bjork · Dec 18, 2013

pizza dog said:
We're friends with an old Mexican lady who makes the slamminest tamales. We have 'em for New Year's usually though.

I like this word.

J-Roderton · Dec 18, 2013

Is it like a burrito?

studyguy · Dec 18, 2013

Jroderton said:
Is it like a burrito?

No, it's more like steamed corn dough with filling in the middle. Corn husks are on the outside, you peel those and eat the dough/innards.
Had a cousin with a boyfriend who had never seen one I guess and tried to eat it whole, corn husk and all.
Hilarious.

Innards are usually beef, chicken... maybe pork I guess.
Red or Green are most common, but you can make them sweet instead with no filling and just sweeten the dough to eat as a snack.

Persona7 · Dec 18, 2013

all dat cheese, pork and green sauce

Northeastmonk · Dec 18, 2013

I used to have them premade by a few local contacts, but when I moved I noticed a local store has them premade from their kitchen. They're wonderful.

Those sound good right now.

Pastry · Dec 18, 2013

diggmcbadass said:
Your family hunt pigs?

Feral hogs are all over the place in South Texas. The meat is amazing, perfect for tamales.

GhostWriter24 · Dec 18, 2013

Italian family = escarole + fish + pasta + roast + rice balls + stuffed mushrooms + all sorts of other delicacies. Then we throw in all the other Americanized Italian dishes, ie Ziti, Lasagna, Chicken Parm. Then comes dessert.

Fuck I love Christmas =')

Hilbert · Dec 18, 2013

This thread title bugs me.

The singular is "Tamal" not "tamale"
The plural is "Tamales".

Common mistake, now it will bug you every time you see it.

I am having a tamales party this Saturday!

Azuran · Dec 18, 2013

The best thing about having a Hispanic family is that Christmas food is always amazing. I'm so looking forward to having non-stop plates of tamales and torrejas in a week.

Refried bean tamales are my favorite. They're so good, they're addictive.

hunnies28 · Dec 18, 2013

alterno69 said:
Well, here(Mexico) we eat tamales often so no tamales on Christmas dinner, only "fancy" shit like turkey and stuff.

Speak for yourself , we are still making tamales !

BobDylan · Dec 18, 2013

love them. my moms side of the family, which is hispanic, gets together and makes a ton of these around this time every year.

Borgnine · Dec 18, 2013

Always, ALWAYS have at least one Mexican friend going in to the holidays for just this reason. A Filipino is also acceptable for Lumpia. After New Years, drop them.

David Incorporated Esq. · Dec 18, 2013

Oh my god this thread makes me miss my Mexican ex-gf SO BADLY.

ClassyPenguin · Dec 18, 2013

Aw yiss.

Jado · Dec 18, 2013

These are great. My gf introduced them to me. There was also a lady who would come around and sell them on weekends but hasn't been around for like a year...

On a related note, my family tradition involves these:

Pasteles in a banana leaf. Some people put ketchup on them (me!).

Ronabo · Dec 18, 2013

I'd kill for some good homemade tamales. My favorite Mexican food.

Khalifa Jayy · Dec 18, 2013

CarpeDeezNutz said:
My fav are the pork ones, my family makes them.

Ever tried the sweet tamales? I don't really like those.

Same and same.

freenudemacusers · Dec 18, 2013

send some to me

please

shadyspace · Dec 18, 2013

where do I get these can I buy them in a store

Hilbert · Dec 18, 2013

shadyspace said:
where do I get these can I buy them in a store

If you can, it's a bad idea. Those are never good, and a bad tamal is BAD.

Find a Mexican family and become friends. It's your only hope.

Borgnine · Dec 18, 2013

You can usually find XLNT tamales near the refrigerated cheese section. Do not buy them.

shadyspace · Dec 18, 2013

I just checked like five mexican restaurants menu's, nothing. There's a world renowned Mexican restaurant an exit away from me and they still don't have these on the menu what gives stop hoarding all the tamales

Elchele · Dec 18, 2013

shadyspace said:
I just checked like five mexican restaurants menu's, nothing. There's a world renowned Mexican restaurant an exit away from me and they still don't have these on the menu what gives stop hoarding all the tamales

central american restaurants are more likely to have them

Hilbert · Dec 18, 2013

shadyspace said:
I just checked like five mexican restaurants menu's, nothing. There's a world renowned Mexican restaurant an exit away from me and they still don't have these on the menu what gives stop hoarding all the tamales

Even restaurants rarely get them right.

You can try to find a hole in the wall Mexican grocery store and find out if they sell them. You might get lucky. also taco trucks.

Gentleman Jack · Dec 18, 2013

We don't make our own masa, but we definitely make everything else.

Red chile
Green chile
Rajas
Dulces

Four types every christmas.

Bah that doesn't even look like 30 tamales. What are their parents supposed to eat when the kids are done?

BloodMoney · Dec 18, 2013

OP, please post a recipe so I can get in on this T action.

studyguy · Dec 18, 2013

Jado said:
Some people put ketchup on them (me!).

No one does that... oh god.

Pimplitosaurio · Dec 18, 2013

studyguy said:
No, it's more like steamed corn dough with filling in the middle. Corn husks are on the outside, you peel those and eat the dough/innards.
Had a cousin with a boyfriend who had never seen one I guess and tried to eat it whole, corn husk and all.
Hilarious.

Innards are usually beef, chicken... maybe pork I guess.
Red or Green are most common, but you can make them sweet instead with no filling and just sweeten the dough to eat as a snack.

Also, there are tamales with banana tree leafs instead of corn husk. Fuck it, there are lots of variations of tamales in Mexico that even living here I haven't had all the variations.
There are probably variations for every state in Mexico:
-Norteño: Mostly in the north of the country, those are small tamales and you could eat like a dozen or more

-Veracruzanos: From the state of Veracruz, those use banana tree leafs:

62833792_1-Fotos-de-RIQUISIMOS-TAMALES-VERACRUZANOS.jpg

-Oaxaqueños: Like Veracruzanos, but with a different taste. My mother in law makes a variation of this, called "costeños" with lots of chile and mole:

1303244994_190530243_1-TAMALES-OAXAQUEnOS-bellavista.jpg

-Chiapanecos: I haven't had these, but some say they are really tasty(and big!) with lots of stuff for filling(sorry, couldn't find an image)

-DF style: From the capital of Mexico, lots of corn, very little meat to my tastes:

1340595074_404276005_3-TAMALES-EXQUISITOS-SAZON-CASERO-DF-TLALPAN-COYOACAN-BENITO-JUAREZ-Organizacion-de-eventos.jpg

Also, it seems like every latin-american country has its own delicious variations of tamales, I hope one day to taste them

(Also my mom makes some vegetarian-maybe even vegan?-tamales, can't wait for new year)

Support NeoGAF

Christmas is almost here, it's tamale time!

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Gold Member

Banned

Member

Deep into his 30th decade

Banned

Member

Member

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Deep into his 30th decade

MBA in pussy licensing and rights management

Banned

Member

Deep into his 30th decade

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Similar threads