Tamales Maria Almaraz

Grandma Maria Almaraz

Tamales Maria Almaraz

Grandma Almaraz always made a huge amount of absolutely delicious tamales during the Christmas Holidays--made from a recipe she used that was nearly one hundred years old. On one particular day, she allowed me to watch and take notes. The Basic Tamale Procedure is taken from those notes:

After cooking the pork butt, Grandma would shred the cooled meat with a fork and set it aside. She would then make the masa (with the corn husks, as noted above, already cleaned and soaking in water) using some of the pork stock as liquid. In addition, she would add several tablespoons of baking powder, which would make the steaming tamales thicker and meatier without cloying to the mouth. The masa had to be perfectly fluffy and smooth or creamy, much like very warm peanut butter. If you don’t get this consistency, the tamales will come out dry and heavy.

Traditionally, tamales are assembled by spreading the masa mixture on a damp cornhusk, then a blob of chile sauce is placed on the masa, followed by about a quarter pound or so of the shredded pork. Grandma, however, would make the chile sauce (from dried pods) using oregano, garlic, comino and salt, then fry the sauce and, once simmering, would place the shredded meat into the sauce (after reserving a quart or so to spoon over the steamed tamales on the table, later). She would simmer the shredded meat/chile mixture until most of the liquid had evaporated, then she would spread this mixture heavily on top of the spread masa on the corn husk.

Grandma made what seemed to be a hundred or more tamales at one time--but she forbid anyone from counting them: “If you count them,” she would say, “there won’t be enough to go around.” While steaming the tamales, Grandma would spoon some red chile sauce on the exposed tops of the raw tamale, and steam them “about one hour for every dozen”. How she knew how long to steam them, considering she didn’t count how many dozens, we’ll never know.

Thank you Grandma for the many years of memorable Christmas Tamales!

Directions before preparing: get several dozens of packages of corn husks. Remove all silk hair from husks and wash in clear hot water, then soak husks until soft and pliable, about 2 hours. To use, wipe each husk dry before adding ingredients to it. This is Grandma’s recipe:

Part One: The Pork Filling

12 pounds pork rump roast
2 T salt
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Very large pot, filled with
water to cover meat

Cook roast in pot with garlic and salt, for several hours or until meat is tender and falls from bone. Cool and drain meat. Save stock for MASA and Chile. When meat has cooled, shred into bite size pieces.

Part Two: The Chile

2 T shortening
2 t salt
2 pounds red chile pods, roasted
2 1/2 t Comino (cumin) powder
3 cloves garlic
2 cups pork stock

Melt shortening in pot used to cook meat (after removing all stock from pot) and then remove from heat. Roast chile pods slightly in oven or over griddle on stove top. When cool, remove stems and seeds from chile pods and soak in hot water until soft and pliable. In a blender, add several soft pods along with remaining ingredients and one cup pork stock. Blend at high speed and puree. Process all remaining pods with remaining cup of pork stock. Add more water if you need to, to puree without effort. Add all pureed chile to melted shortening, bring to boil, stirring constantly until thick. Add shredded pork. Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.

Part Three: The Masa (dough)*

5 pounds Masa Harina type corn flour for tamales
3 pounds shortening
2 T salt
Pork stock
3 T Baking powder

In two separate bowls: in one bowl, use an electric mixer to whip shortening until light and fluffy. Add baking powder and salt to shortening and whip again. In second bowl, place flour. Add 2 cups stock and about 1/2 whipped shortening. Use hands to squeeze mixture, mixing well. Add remaining shortening and add more stock until masa has the smooth and fluffy consistency of warm peanut butter. Let masa rest at least 30 minutes to make sure baking powder activates.

Spread masa on upper 3/4 of each corn husk and place a generous helping of the chile-meat filling over the masa. Fold husks left to right over mixture, wrapping as in a leaf. Fold lower portion bottom to top.

Place tamales upright in steamer pot, packed closely together. Cover with any extra husks you have. Steam approximately 1 hour per dozen tamales.

David's Own Tamale Masa Recipe

David's Own Tamale Masa Recipe

(Masa = Dough)

See Maria Almaraz' Tamale Recipe for making the tamales!

Note: Here's a couple of tips (added 12/14/2006)

1. To test your masa mixture to make sure it's of the right consistency, drop a small piece into a half cup of cold water. If it floats, it's ready! If not, squeeze some more.
2. You can whip the shortening in batches if you need to. Make it fluffy, like a meringue, or stiff egg whites!
3. Cover with plastic wrap when you're finished. You can leave the masa out at room temperature if you're going to make the tamales later. Refrigerate otherwise. If you refrigerate it, bring it to room temperature and add a cup or so of very hot water and squeeze some more to bring it back to consistency.
4. You can substitute chicken broth for the pork broth if you like.


3 cups cooked canned hominy, processed in blender (or enough fresh ears of corn, roasted, to make the same 3 cups needed)
4 t salt
8 cups pork broth (or water if you prefer)
16 cups Masa Harina (corn-flour) (1 4 pound bag)
1/3 cup baking powder
8 cups shortening (about 4 pounds)

I've had trouble in years past making the right textured masa. It would come out too gritty, or too runny, or too oily. In 2003 I finally perfected a recipe for masa that seems to be pretty close to foolproof--as long as I follow the recipe!

In blender, process the canned hominy, using the same liquid from the can, until the hominy resembles corn grits (which is what it is!). In a very large, really large bowl, put all 16 cups of Masa Harina (about 4 pounds worth), and add the baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl large enough to fit 8 cups of shortening: whip shortening until it is fluffy and light. Combine broth and cooked canned processed hominy. Should be about 110 degrees.

Add five cups of broth to dry mixture and squeeze with fingers. Add half the whipped shortening and squeeze some more. Add the remaining liquid, squeeze; add remaining shortening and squeeze more! The masa should resemble smooth, creamy peanut butter or whipped mashed potatoes. The hominy adds an extra flavor boost.

Spread mixture as usual on corn husks, add your filling, and wrap the tamale.

Steam tamales for 55-65 minutes per dozen.