Tamales - Soul Fusion Style

Last year I was fortunate to be able to attend a tamale party. I swore that for 2007 I would start a new tradition and make tamales for my family and friends a holiday event.

There is so much love, friendship and holiday cheer exemplified by the simple task of wrapping tamales. Sure all the work is in the prep but when you are in the company of people you enjoy being around, it doesn't seem burdensome. Even more satisying is that there is a bounty of tamales to share with others at work, neighbors, friends and family.

I spent a few hours on the internet checking recipes, prep, ingredients and techniques. What were my conclusions? Well, there is a diversity of styles and the only limiting step is your own creativity. There is no wrong way to make a tamales as long as the end result is what you like. I decided to combine what I know with what I like. You don't have to look far to figure out what that might be.

I decided to make a traditional tamales using smoked pork butt versus braised pork with seasonings and spices. The rest of my post documents my venture into the world of tamales done Soul Fusion style. The smokey flavor of the pork combined with the rich traditional red chile sauce and masa harina prep made for a very good tamales which did result in a successful must repeat, dang that taste great tamales.

Smoking pork butt

Pork butts have reached temp

Pork ready to pull and chop



Corn husks soaking

Pork seasoning and spices
Pork ready for tamales



Masa prep

Big Mista making tamales

Yum!