Marley-Jester Hoy: Making Tamales

Christmas Eve day included much excitement. Jay and Erica and their kids had arrived late the day before, it rained hard the night before, and we awoke to a little landslide of mud from the dirt hill behind the house. Fortunately, the dogs we were caring for were not hurt. Unfortunately, our gardener, Alberto, had to spend most of the holiday cleaning up the mess.

Then, it was off to make tamales at Rebeca's house. There is much ado around tamale making in Costa Rica. Tico tamales are not like Mexican tamales. The basic filling includes corn mush mixed with mashed potatoes, then a small piece of pork or chicken is added with a slice of red pepper and one of carrot, then a sprinkle of peas. Some people put anchovies or raisins in theirs but this is considered a tamale on the fringe. All of this is wrapped up in a carefully processed banana leaf, smoked or dipped in boiling water to soften, and tied into neat little packets of two.Then the tamale packets are put into boiling water to cook for several hours. Ticos like to eat tamale with coffee in the afternoon It is a long process and an important tradition around Christmas. Rebeca invited us to partake in this event at her house on Christmas Eve.

My brother, Jay, and his family had just arrived in Turrialba and were able to join us for a bit of tamale making between diagnosing a tenacious skin rash and doing last minute Christmas shopping. We got to Rebeca's house a little late but set in right away with the process of making the masa. She had already bought the pork and had the carrots and peas ready for insertion. Then it was a matter of assembling all of this, learning the art of wrapping and tying these little presents in banana leaves. They are tied in a pack of two and that pack is called a "piñon". After the tamales boiled for a couple of hours on Rebeca and Roy's big wood stove, we all partook in eating the first ones with a cup of strong coffee. This is how many Ticos eat their tamales. We were so honored to have spent the day in Rebeca's home, and we had tamales in our freezer until May!