Tamales Calientitos

Tamales calientitos, tamales calientitos… the cry rings across the square in any town in Mexico today. It’s the tamal vendors selling their wares, hot out of the steamer, wrapped in newspapers for you to savor on the street!  

That call takes you back more than 8,000 years ago to the invention of little steamed sweet or savory packets of food with a multitude of fillings found in early Mexico and Guatemala. Later, the Maya and Aztecs adopted them! Today, the English word tamale comes from the word tamalii from the Nahuatl language spoken by the Aztecs and means “wrapped food” made from a dough and a filling and steamed in a corn husk, banana leaf, or bark.

Join us for a taste of history in our latest virtual Culinary Adventure with Cuchara Restaurant from 3-5pm on Saturday, April 02, 2021. Together, we will create authentic tamales by cooking along with the grandma chefs of Cuchara who have handed down recipes from mothers to daughters for generations. Buon provecho!

Cuchara Restaurant and Archaeology Now will provide a bag of curated ingredients, complete with a playlist of music and a recipe, so you can follow along via Zoom to make your own tamales at home.