At the end of every year--just before January rings in, Jacob and I make tamales. Dozens of them. Pans of them. And, we build them from scratch using the basic ingredients. We love to eat them and we share them with our friends. Making tamales is a wonderful way to spend time together. They are the perfect New Year's Eve (& Day) food. [Below 1: Our tamales wrapped and tied; not yet steamed.]
Dried corn husks are necessary. So are a couple of pork roasts, a very large chicken, a decent-sized piece of beef, also. Masa Harina, lard (or shortning), and homemade chicken stock. Lots of spices and fresh cilantro are needed. And a day or two to slow-cook the meats, put everything together, and steam the little packages.
I just read online today that Tamales are to Fast Food as a Saddle Horse is to Mass Transit... Very, very slow. Yep, that's about right. [Below 2, A few cooked, steaming hot and ready to eat.]
[Below 3: And, a peek inside.]
A couple of plates of these beauties with some Piper-Heidsieck and... Yes indeed, the New Year is off to one delicious start. Cheers!
