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Bubba

Jun 18, 2006, 6:47 PM

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Oaxacan Tamales de Mole

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Our young house guest from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca taught us how to make tamales de mole Oaxacan style tonight and it was a lot of fun. A friend of her family in Teotitlan made a nice and quite spicy mole which she brought back from Oaxaca with her. We made these with boiled pork but one could use chicken.

We gathered some banana leaves from the garden and headed up to the Six Corners plaza in Ajijic for some masa at the local tortelleria and lard at the carniceria and were set to go.

You might be shocked to hear of the amount of lard that goes into a tamal. We blended 1/2 kilo of masa with 1/4 kilo of lard to make the tamal masa. That lard component makes this an occasional treat only.

I would say these were true Oaxaca tamales in every respect but the masa. In Teotitlan, the family cooks the corn which is then taken to a community mill for grinding whereas here we use a masa which is dried and sold commercially. I doubt most could tell the difference and know I couldn´t even though I have had these treats in Oaxaca.

I have never been a big fan of the tamales one finds in the Lake Chapala area but these tamales de mole were outstanding. The only tamales I like better (so far) are the Chiapanecan tamales one gets in that state. The ones I have tried were also mole tamales but included such treats as raisins and prunes or cherries. They actually make a variety of tamales there as I´m sure they do here but these were my favorites.

MazDee

Jun 18, 2006, 8:58 PM

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Re: [Bubba] Oaxacan Tamales de Mole

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I know all that lard is why I love good tamales so much. But I was amazed last month to try tamales with NO fat! I was just amazed. A lady here in Maz invited about 12 of us to come to her beautiful outdoor kitchen overlooking the bay, to be guinea pigs for a possible cooking class. As part of the lesson, she mixed plain dried masa and water, and worked it (her assistant did) for a few minutes and then gave each of us a lump, to spread on our cornhusks and fill and roll. I was sure this stuff would stick to the cornhusks and be inedible too, but surprise! These would not be my tamales of choice, by any means, but they rolled right out of their corn husk wrappers and tasted quite good. Anyone else ever heard of this?

julietl

Jun 26, 2006, 4:48 PM

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Re: [MazDee] Oaxacan Tamales de Mole

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Yes, I do this. When I am doing a menu that is low fat, I don't add anything to the masa. It works out well, better than you would think. It helps if you have a juicier center - such as adding salsas, etc...

Tamales don't have to be off limits to people on a diet, they can be very healthy. As for me, though - I must say I do prefer some lard in my masa - hmmm....that sounds vaguely naughty.
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