How many tamales can my present spouse make in a weekend? We now have the answer to this question and many other inquiries.
It has become somewhat of a tradition at, “The Ford Homestead” to have tamales on Christmas Eve before the presents are opened.
Yes you read it correctly, we do not wait until Christmas morning to open presents. In the olden days at the Ford house in Missouri we had to wait until Christmas morning to open presents and there were very few presents to be opened.
My first wife’s family always opened their presents on Christmas Eve. I am not saying they were cheating but it did give them a head start on the rest of us, more traditional families. The early opening has now become the accepted procedure at, “The Ford Homestead”, which allows the family to sleep in on Christmas morning.
What? You want me to tell you how many tamales my first wife can make in a weekend.
Ok, keep your shorts on, I can’t believe how impatient some readers are! There needs to be a disclaimer or two stated prior to giving you the number.
Miss Ford had to purchase the shucks and masa mix ahead of the, “assembly day”. Why call it “assembly day”, because it is an assembly process to make the tamale.
The misses cooked the meat a day or two ahead of the actual manufacturing of the tamales. My present wife is very particular about the type of meat use in the tamales. It is reported that dog or cat meat had been used in the making of tamales, but my present spouse refused to use dog or cat in her recipe.
She is very particular when it comes to cooking, only the best road kill is used. She prefers raccoon (coon) or opossum (possum) as they both have a little extra fat which enhances the taste of the tamale. She has been known to use deer meat if it hasn’t been dead for more than a couple days before she finds it.
The process is somewhat as follows.
Soak the shucks in water to get them soft and pliable.
Get the precooked meat from the refrigerator.
Mix the masa.
Put everything on the table.
Take a shuck (corn shuck if you were wondering) and wipe the excess water off.
Spread the masa on the shuck to the perfect thickness (about 3/8 of an inch)
Apply the meat.
Fold the shuck and masa around the meat making the tamale shape.
Repeat the process until all tamales are manufactured.
When the manufacturing is complete cook the tamales.
Let them cool after cooking and place them in units of one dozen.
Wrap the units of one dozen in aluminum foil, put them in the freezer if you aren’t going to eat them right away.
At the end of two strenuous afternoons of manufacturing the tamales, her final count was 24 dozen. Keep in mind we did have to sample some of them for quality assurance.
She gives many of them away to friends and family, we keep some to eat.
Have a fulfilling day.
Don Ford
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