Amy invited me to go with her alumni group to learn how to make tamales on Sunday. It’s a long process and I doubt I’d ever do it at home, but it was definately a fun time. We learned from the chef and owner of Rique’s Regional Mexican Food in Uptown, Enrique Cortes. He’s so cute and funny and laid back. He taught us not only how to make tamales but also about food from different regions of Mexico, the importance of fresh, quality ingredients and preparing food as it’s ordered, and how to make friends with lard. That’s right, LARD! Today I’ll post the first of the photos. Tune in tomorrow for the remaining batch!

The first thing you need to make some tamales is some good masa, or dough. Rique recommends the El Milagro brand of masa. It tastes good and you don’t have to make it from scratch. El Milagro is made locally in Chicago, goes for $5/bucket, and will make about 30 tamales/bucket. Also, it can be frozen and used later. . so it’s very inexpensive and versatile, as well as tasting good.

Dump the dough out of the container and play with it for a while. Just keep kneading it. Rique added a little bit of oil to ours. And we just kept working with the masa.

You’re working air into the masa. The dough is ready when you take a small piece of it and drop it into a glass of water and it floats. If it sinks you have to keep working on it more.

While some of us worked with the masa, others started soaking corn husks. There isn’t any sort of husk that Rique recommends, just whatever is available at the market. Most husks that are sold in The US are already trimmed, flattened and ready for use. The husks should be soaked for about 20 - 30 minutes. Then they should be removed from the water and patted dry with a napkin.

While all this is going on, Rique gave us a short lecture about how we should dispel any negative notions we have about lard and we should embrace it. It’s not the most healthy thing, but it’s better than butter and it makes things taste good. Later on during lunch we all admit that we still are weary of lard and one person even admits that she once broke up with a guy because his family cooked with it!

All the while we were working we had snacks. Fresh tortillas with guacamole, black beans, and ceviche made with shrimp, fish, and octopus.

Come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion on how to make tamales!