Tuesday, January 31st

Mexicans relish tamales, savoring tradition and nostalgia

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press

A youth who plays guitar in a rock band east a pink tamal before his show at a street tamales shop in downtown Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Vendors set up stands across the city before dawn at subway stops and street corners where tamales steam in giant pots fired by gas burners or charcoal. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

MEXICO CITY (AP) - At least three times a week, Mexico City bus driver Nicolás Cuatencos stops by a stand selling tamales to pick up a "guajolota," or "turkey." It's a corn husk-wrapped corn dough and salsa delicacy slid into crusty bun, and it's been his weakness since childhood.

"The flavor, the dough, all of that is really good," a smiling Cuatencos said recently.

But tamales are not only delicious and a high caloric way to fuel the work day. They also invariably carry nostalgia for millions like Cuatencos, who remembers his grandmother preparing tamales for family celebrations and religious festivals like Candlemas Day on Feb. 2.

On that day, Mexican tradition has it that whoever found the baby Jesus figurine in the Rosca de Reyes cake eaten on Three Kings Day on Jan. 6 has to buy tamales for the family on Feb. 2.

Even outside that holiday, vendors set up stands across the city before dawn at subway stops and street corners where tamales steam in giant pots fired by gas burners or charcoal. Other vendors slowly pedal big tricycles down streets offering tamales, which can also be wrapped in banana leaves or other foliage.

A girl enjoys a tamal during the opening of the tamales fair in the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. Tamales date to pre-Hispanic times when Olmecs, Mexicas and Mayas prepared them for religious rituals, offerings and even placed them in tombs. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Mexican chef Ricardo Munoz Zurita teaches about the the types of tamales at his kitchen in Mexico City, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. "The popularity of the tamal is so great that I don't think they're going to stop making them in this century because it is not an isolated dish, there is a total tamal culture," Muñoz Zurita said. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Tamales date to pre-Hispanic times when Olmecs, Mexicas and Mayas prepared them for religious rituals, offerings and even placed them in tombs. They have persisted for centuries, spinning off an array of varieties and adjusting to ingredients like the pork and lard brought by Spanish conquerors.

A single offering of the dish is called a tamal in Spanish. It comes from the Nahuatl word "tamalli," which means wrapped.

Tamales are eaten in countries throughout the region under other names like "humita," "pamonhas," "hallaca" and "guanime." But the sheer variety achieved in Mexico is unmatched, said chef and gastronomy researcher Ricardo Muñoz Zurita. He has identified 25 families of tamales in Mexico, which themselves have innumerable variants based on ingredients, wrappings and size.

Tamales of different styles are displayed on a table during the tamales fair at the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. A single offering of the dish is called a tamal in Spanish. It comes from the Nahuatl word "tamalli," which means wrapped. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

The tradition comes from a time when farmers would bring their ears of corn to the church for a priest to bless the kernels set aside for the planting of the next crop.

From north to south, hundreds of savory and sweet tamal varieties proliferate in Mexico.

"The popularity of the tamal is so great that I don't think they're going to stop making them in this century because it is not an isolated dish, there is a total tamal culture," Muñoz Zurita said.

Just like his parents and grandparents did, Cuatencos, the 45-year-old bus driver, said he will gather with his wife, children and other relatives Thursday to celebrate Candlemas.

"My kids found the figurine in the cake, but I will bring the tamales," he said, assuring that it is his way of passing the tradition on to his children. "Tamales are going to survive many generations because they are passed from generation to generation."

A Cochinita Pibil style tamal is displayed during theTamales fair at the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. Cochinita pibil is a traditional Yucatec Mayan slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatán Peninsula. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Customers lineup to buy tamales outside a home where they are made by hand in the popular San Felipe de Jesus neighborhood of Mexico City, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Tamales are eaten in countries throughout the region under other names like "humita," "pamonhas," "hallaca" and "guanime." (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A pot full of tamales is covered with plastic as vendors wait for customers at a street stand in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. A single offering of the dish is called a tamal in Spanish. It comes from the Nahuatl word "tamalli," which means wrapped. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Streets vendors sell Oaxaca style tamales at a corner stand in down town Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Oaxaca style tamales are a traditional dish from the State of Oaxaca, in Mexico. It consists of a tamal stuffed with shredded meat and mole sauce, and then wrapped and cooked with banana leaves. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A shrimp tamal is displayed during the tamales fair in the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. From north to south, hundreds of savory and sweet tamal varieties proliferate in Mexico. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A sweet tamal made with blackberries is displayed on a table during the tamales fair in the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. From north to south, hundreds of savory and sweet tamal varieties proliferate in Mexico. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Vendors wait for clients before the opening of the tamales fair in the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. Some vendors also known to slowly pedal big tricycles down streets offering tamales, which can also be wrapped in banana leaves or other foliage. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A worker classifies corn husks to wrap tamales for the incoming "Dia de la Candelaria" or Candlemas at the Flor de Lis factory in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. The word tamal comes from the Nahuatl word "tamalli," which means wrapped. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Customers buy tamales outside a home where they are made by hand in the popular San Felipe de Jesus neighborhood of Mexico City, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Vendors also are known to slowly pedal big tricycles down streets offering tamales, which can also be wrapped in banana leaves or other foliage. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A Chiles en Nogada style tamal is displayed during the tamales fair at the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. Chiles en nogada is a Mexican dish of poblano chiles stuffed with picadillo topped with a walnut-based cream sauce called nogada, pomegranate seeds and parsley, and it is typically served at room temperature. It is widely considered a national dish of Mexico. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A woman stuffs tamales with chicken and green sauce at a home where they are made by hand, in the popular San Felipe de Jesus neighborhood of Mexico City, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Tamales date to pre-Hispanic times when Olmecs, Mexicas and Mayas prepared them for religious rituals, offerings and even placed them in tombs. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Mexican chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita teaches about the different types of tamales at his kitchen in Mexico City, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023. Muñoz Zurita has identified 25 families of tamales in Mexico, which themselves have innumerable variants based on ingredients, wrappings and size. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Workers make tamales for the "Dia de la Candelaria" or Candlemas celebration at the Flor de Lis tamales factory in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Even outside Candlemas, vendors set up stands across the city before dawn at subway stops and street corners where tamales steam in giant pots fired by gas burners or charcoal. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A pot full of Oaxaca style tamales waits for customers at a street stand in Mexico City, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Vendors set up stands across the city before dawn at subway stops and street corners where tamales steam in giant pots fired by gas burners or charcoal. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Differents types of tamales and sauces are displayed during the tamales fair in the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. From north to south, hundreds of savory and sweet tamal varieties proliferate in Mexico. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Tamales of different styles are displayed on a table during the tamales fair at the Ixtapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. A single offering of the dish is called a tamal in Spanish. It comes from the Nahuatl word "tamalli," which means wrapped. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)