September 23, 2019

We gather at the table as Liesel, the chef owner of Dream Catcher, passes out the Receta de Tamales. She casually tells us that these are most of the ingredients. Reyna, our tamale instructor, smiles at us as the class begins.

Pots and pans sit over a low flame. We match ingredients to the recipe-- ajonjoli, pepitoria, miltomate, tomilla, achiote, chiles quakes and chiles pasas. I make notes as I hear an onza of this, a litro of consume. We share slicing the tomates and cebollas, toasting seeds, and asking questions. Can you use any kind of meat? Can you substitute packets of saborin? The recado, sauce, releases its aroma complex flavors slowly. After it is cooled, it is put through a food processor to make a thick sauce. We push the sauce through a sieve with a hand strainer. We taste. Sooo good!

Reyna heats the stock and pours about 3 liters of maiz and 1 liter of oil into the kettle. We stir constantly with a flat stick. Reyna eyes the maiz mixture and thins it with water as we stir. We push the maiz through a sieve, mashing all the small bits of grain through. We chill the thick cream like mixture. The texture becomes similar to soft polenta or coarse grits.
We chatter and comment that this is probably too complicated for our boats. How do you know if you need to add water? How much sal did you add? We have been working about 1½ hours as we sip a mimosa. We watch warily as she passes banana leaves over the flame to soften them. Liesel shares Reyna's comments about selling food near the school in Esmeralda. My ears perk up because her village is just around the point from our marina.

We learn to make tamale envelopes. We wrap a scoop of maize, a piece of chicken, vegetables and a spoon of sauce into two banana leaves. Reyna and her helper put the tamales into a large stockpot lined with a banana stem grate and hot water to steam. About 45 minutes later, the tamales are placed on a large platter. We continue to learn about Guatemalan dishes. Reyna and two helpers can make 3000 tamales in a day. She earns about 1000 Quetzales, about $135, minus the cost of supplies and helpers.

Homes and restaurants in Guatemala City put out a red flag when they have tamales. Tamales are made around New Years as they represent good luck. Reyna speaks too rapidly for me to understand. Liesel translates that Reyna sells each tamale for 5Q (65*). About 4 hours after we began, we all smile. We stuff ourselves with the best tamales in the world! Delicioso!