The Season for Tamales

In the Church calendar, today is the Feast of Candelaria (Candlemas) which commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple.  In Mexico tamales are the traditional food for the celebration.

This time of year there are several festivals and fairs in Mexico City which feature tamales.  One of them, the "Feria del Tamal" is held at the Museum of Popular Cultures in the southern district of Coyoacán.  (I have mentioned in the past that the singular of "tamales" is "tamal", NOT tamale.)

This was the thirty-second year for the fair at the museum, and admission was free.  (Of course you had to pay for the tamales and other food and beverages that you wanted to eat.)

In case you don't know, tamales are made with "masa", corn meal dough.  The dough contains a filling, and they are wrapped in a corn husk or banana leaf and steamed.

Last Thursday, I went to the fair.  I took the "metro" to the nearest stop, and from there walked to the museum.  There were around 50 vendors who had set up their stalls in the courtyard.  They were from different parts of Mexico and sold a wide variety of tamales.

There are savory tamales with fillings such as chicken in green sauce or pork in "mole".  There are also sweet tamales with fruit fillings.

I intended to make this visit my main meal of the day.  But before I bought any tamales, I walked through the entire fair to see what was available.  At the far end of the courtyard were a number of vendors from other Latin American countries who were preparing their nations'  variations on the Mexican "tamal".

The national dish of El Salvador is the "pupusa", a griddlecake make of corn meal.

I ordered a "pupusa" filled with cheese and covered in a spicy cabbage relish known as "curtido".

I ordered an "arepa" from a vendor from Colombia.  An "arepa" is another grilled flatbread made from corn "masa".  It is split, filled and served like a sandwich.

"Arepas" are also traditional to Venezuela, but I ordered something called an "hallaca", Venezuela's version of the "tamal".

I ordered two "hallacas" filled with shredded beef and pork.  There are wrapped in banana leaves (no, you don't eat the wrapper!) and served with a creamy garlic sauce.

I was time for me to eat something Mexican!  These vendors are from the state of Michoacán, and they were selling "corundas", triangular-shaped tamales covered with "crema" and cheese.

From a vendor from the state of Oaxaca I also ordered a traditional "tamal" filled with Oaxacan black "mole".  its black color comes from the chocolate which is one of its ingredients.  I love black "mole", but unfortunately I did not care much for this "tamal".  The flavor was too bitter.

Well, it was time to order something to drink to wash down all this food.  The traditional beverage to accompany tamales is "atole".  It is made from corn flour and flavored with unrefined sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.   It is also often flavored with chocolate or fruit.  I generally do not care for "atole", but I do like guava "atole".  The acidity of the fruit cuts the taste of the corn.  This vendor had a variety of different "atoles", including guava (guayaba).  So I ordered a cup of it, and it was very good.

In addition to all the food, there were musical performers on a stage set up in the courtyard.

I left the fair with a full tummy.  Fortunately. I had a thirty minute walk back to the subway, and burned off a few of those calories.