nPostednon March 23, 2016
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nTamalesnare delicious. Made of masa (corn-based dough) filled with meats,ncheeses, vegetables, even fruits, tamales are wrapped in a corn husknor a banana leaf before they are steamed. This wrapping is, ofncourse, discarded before the tamales are eaten.
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nDidnI say eaten? I meant devoured, savored, enjoyed!
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nMakingntamales is time-consuming and challenging enough that some familiesnhave special get-together to make them before a holiday meal. Ofncourse, other families buy their tamales from their favorite “TamalenGuy,” “Tamale Factory,” or other source. I’ve seen signs forn“homemade tamales” in unlikely places like a hair salon!
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nOnenof my favorite meals is Trader Joe’s “Cheese and Green ChilenTamales.”
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nThisnis the first year that March 23 is celebrated as NationalnTamale Day, and there was a logo contest whose winners will benannounced today. Check out the official website.n Apparently there are lots of Tamale Days celebrated all through thenyear in particular towns in the U.S. – but today is the start ofnthe nationwide celebration of this food.
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nWhere’dnit come from…?
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nThenyummy and varied tamale is a traditional Mesoamerican dish.n“Mesoamerican” means Middle-American—in other words, CentralnAmerican. People often associate the dish with Mexicans, which isnfine—but the dish has been around since around 8000 BCE, and Mexiconbecame a country almost ten thousand years later! n
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nAztecnand Maya made versions of tamales, and so did the Olmecs and Toltecsnbefore them. This portable food was used for hunters, traders,narmies, and travelers. n
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nBynthe way, because so many different groups made tamales, there are anlot of different names for this dish, many of which are still in use.nThe word tamales is Spanish, but the singular form of thenSpanish word is tamal.
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nEnglishnspeakers hearing tamales, plural, assumed that the singularnwas tamale, so that has indeed become the “proper”nsingular form in English. This formation of a word is callednback-formation.
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- Herenis a video that shows a “simple” way of making tamales. You cannsee why I mention that it is time-consuming!
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nAlsonon this date:
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Artist Juan Gris’s birthday
Artist Juan Gris’s birthday n
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nNearnMiss Day
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Anniversarynof an influential speech
Anniversarynof an influential speechn
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nPakistannDay
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nNationalnPuppy Day
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nWorldnMeteorological Day
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nAnniversarynof the coining of the word “okay” (America’sn“Greatest Word”)
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nPlannahead:
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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