Mexican tamales are made out of masa dough with a meat filling inside. Tamales come in many flavors, with different sauces and meat options. While steaming, they are wrapped by a corn husk, which is removed before eating.

Tamales

Elena Higuchi, Staff Writer

“We typically eat tamales during Christmas time. Tamales have corn as the principal ingredient. Originally, corn was a very important crop for the Aztecs. It even had religious importance. But today, we don’t really focus on eating these foods for that significance. The overall cultural significance for us is keeping the traditions of food and the process of making it alive.

Usually, we make tamales a day before in order to have them ready. We have to make the dough, spread it on the corn husk, fill them and steam them for about three hours. Most of my memories of tamales are associated with the process of making the food, rather than eating the food. Because they take a while to prepare, making them with my parents gave me a lot of happy and fun memories. Of course, eating the food is really rewarding, but the best memories are from the process of making it.” – junior Katrina Estrada