Christmas Tamales!

A big tradition here in Costa Rica is to spend a day around Christmas making tamales with the entire family. It is a complicated process that takes some time to make, but everyone pitches in to complete the final product. Most are eaten throughout December, but some are saved for January or February - when I am told they taste much better!

My wonderful friend and colleague Krisya invited me to her house on Sunday to learn how to make tamales with her family. Her family was so sweet to me, as usual, and even told me I was really good at making the tamales! Below is a picture outline of how it works.

At Krisya's house, her sister-in-law Yadira was my tamale teacher. 

Step 1:
Prepare all the ingredients to put in the tamales and create a tamale making station.

Step 2:
Lay out 2-3 plantain leafs (hojas), layered.

Step 3:
Put the cornmeal mixture (masa de maiz) in the center of the leaves. Just plop it down apparently. A lot of families take whole corn to be ground and add their own secret spices. The key, I've been told, it that this stuff must be very flavorful.

Step 4:
Put a spoonful of rice in the center of the masa.

Step 5:
Strategically add other ingredients. Place two strips of green pepper on 2 sides, two pieces of asparagus on the other sides (making a square around the ride.) Put two small carrot sticks in the middle. Add two pieces of meat (in this case, pork) in the center. And the put a few green peas around everything.

Step 6:
Wrap it up!!

Step 7:
Tie two wrapped tamales together, and add them to the pile!

Step 8:
Boil the large amount of tamales you spent all day making for 3 hours or so.

Step 9:
Spend most of the next month eating tamales.

After learning to make tamales with Krisya and her family, Catalina invited me over to learn how to eat tamales with hers! Catalina's family uses a different recipe that her father's grandmother learned from a Venezuelan. Hence, the different ingredients in this one. YUMMY!

Catalina and I enjoying our tamales.

Catalina's sweet mother, father, and niece. 

I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends who invite me into their homes and their special family traditions. Now it is time for me to head back to NC for some family traditions of my own!

<3,
Amber