Tamales are Full of Surprises I come from a Mexican family that never forgets about their traditions and foods. My sisters and I grew up with my parents always cooking Mexican food for the holidays, but when my cousin married a Guatemalan lady, Virginia, she introduced us to her food. When we first tried her tamales we didn't really know what to expect. I guess since I was used to my mom's tamales I expected them to taste the same. Well, I was wrong. To begin with the Guatemalan were a lot smaller than the tamales I was used to. Tasting the Guatemalan tamales was a moment I would call life changing because that's when I realized that even though their food and ours have similar names they won't all be the same. Every food that …show more content…
That was also the first Christmas we had spent with my cousin’s new wife. She is from Guatemala and decided to bring her tamales because she knew none of us had Guatemalan food for Christmas. My family and I had never had Guatemalan food in our lives. Virginia, however had tried Mexican food because she had been dating my cousin for a while and he had introduced her around to Mexican foods. Since she had come over multiple times to have dinner with us, she was used to my family's version of Mexican food as well. When she arrived with her tamales wrapped in a strange green leaf, I was kind of scared as what could possibly be inside. When I opened to see what was inside the leaf, it looked almost exactly the same as our tamales. It didn’t taste the same. When I took my first bite into the tamale it was very dull. It reminded me of being bored in detention. The tamale consisted more of masa (corn flour) then the actual meat and filling that go inside. I personally am not of fan of masa, I like my tamales to have more …show more content…
I was personally a bit shocked. They aren’t accustomed to making them with the meats and salsa that Mexicans add to our tamales. She told us that what is normal for us is weird for her. When she first tried Mexican tamales, she thought that they were too spicy for her to actually enjoy them but the more she ate them she started to actually like them. Most Mexican dishes are known for their spiciness. Nothing tastes good if you don’t add something spicy, well that happens with the tamales as well. They won't be half as delicious if they weren’t spicy. I really like when my mom makes spicy tamales, Virginia's tamales only had chicken and a bit of salsa verde (green salsa), which was barely noticeable. It felt pretty plain and I didn’t really enjoy it. It became one of the foods that I probably won’t ever eat again, unless it had something more than just chicken and less masa. I am always willing to try new food but something with flavor. Something that I can make the food memorable. I always like to have the food leave an impression on me. This tamale was really plain. It had no taste to it. It gave me this feeling of boredom. It looked white maybe even a yellow kind of color, shaped in a small square. It was wrapped around with a green leaf that she said comes from bananas or something. It was tied with a small piece of the leaf to secure it while it cooked so that it can hold everything inside and not
My parents have always introduced me to all types of food. The type of food I eat is one of the ways that I feel closely ties me to the mexican side of my culture. Mexican food is my favorite. I love how spicy it can be. One tradition
Tamales have the power of merging family. Christmas eve in Mexico means interacting and bonding with the whole family. When the holiday season begins and everybody gathers at Grandmother’s house you can trace the smell of tamales getting cook in the kitchen mixed with the smell of cinnamon. The Christmas tree is bursting with presents and on the side the nativity scene which is always present in a Catholic Mexican family. The table is brimming in flavors, with a variety of dessert and snacks and delicious hot drinks. As appetizing as the table looks the whole family is barely touching the food because the tamales are almost ready and everybody wants to eat as many tamales as possible. When the tamales are ready it means that Christmas Eve celebration is staring. Everyone from the oldest in the house to the youngest gets a plate and eats as many tamales as possible while sharing stories and laughs. The tamales are the main guest of the celebration. The tamales are a traditional Mexican food that can be traced to the Aztecs. The word tamale comes from the Aztec word tamalii which means wrapped food. The Aztec women would cook the tamales for the soldiers because they were easy to carry and eat. Today making tamales is a bonding event for all the women in the family,
One thing that Peruvians do not consume is tortillas. A tortilla in Peru is like an American eating guinea pig, it’s hardly seen or even spoken of. One thing the people of Peru love to eat is guinea pig. Eating guinea pig for an average person in the country is like us eating chicken. Mexicans on the other hand have a distinct eating habit. They eat a lot of tortillas, beans, cacti, beef, and small insects to snack on. Most Mexican dishes Americans have heard of are not true Mexican cuisine, and
They make tamales which you can get from stands and at the stands are a huge steel bucket full of steaming tamales and two pots with atole (a sweet breakfast drink of strawberry, chocolate, or rice thickened with starch) every city makes them different.
Last week I ate at Acapulco and enjoyed a delicious 12 inch Papa Burrito. The cheesy smell made my nostrils dance. The beefy aroma made my mouth water. The Chile Verde smothered on top of the burrito tingled my nose. The rice had an essence of chicken broth and all these ingredients were inside a soft flour tortilla.
The land of Texas was initially owned by Spain, but became a part of Mexico when they won independence from Spain. The Mexican government allowed U.S citizens did they: promised to become citizens of Mexico and worshiped the Catholic Church. By 1825, 25,000 Americans lived in Texas in comparison to the 4,000 Tejanos, or Mexicans living in Texas. Americans living in Texas complained that they were used to governing themselves and resented taking orders from Mexican officials, that it was not suitable to them that Mexico outlawed slavery, and that all official documents were written in Spanish, a foreign language to them. The Tejanos complained that many settlers came without permission and showed little respect. The Mexican government then closed
Tradition has been said to mirror a way of life. Observation has concluded that participants in tradition “actively construct as well as reflect culture and community” (Sacks 275). For most people in the 21st century, tradition only reveals itself during special times or certain seasons. For others it is simply a way of life. The foodways of Mexicans and Native Americans are of particular interest in this study because of the food that grew from necessity and is maintained as sacred or reserved for only special occasions. The tamale is one such food. Significantly changed and altered throughout history it has remained a
Not only are tamales good to eat, but they bring so much more to the table, they bring laughter, memories and most important family. They bring families together every year across different communities throughout the nation, and abroad to me, tamales are a combination of good times, love, and togetherness all wrapped up and presented like a gift for the soul around the holidays.
In Tamales or Timbales: Cuisine and the Formation of Mexican National Identity, Pilcher also looks to the history of Mexico and national identity through cuisine. Historically, Mexico is a conquered nation even after reaching independence in 1821. And while Mexico is a country with heavy influence from Europe, it has created its own national identity through foods with the use of Spanish, indigenous, and French ingredients. The elites believed that Mexico would only advance and progress when they abandoned Native American techniques and adopted the European
Today, I went to Church mass tonight around at 6pm ready for dinner to celebration has Tamales Day being on February 2nd later at 8pm. It's was on January 6th is special for bread inside has baby Jesus for the Three Kings Day. But, I nothing inside has to my bread with baby Jesus make to my god to touch me and my mom and sister has baby Jesus so lucky get tamales for the days same to my family sometime or not have inside for baby Jesus. Then enter to church arrive and she gives me for candles of the day is blessed and I saw people has brought to child christ is baby Jesus and some virgin of Guadalupe in the mother's Mary put on a floor in the front. We have blessed to be church is a presentation for us with their people of the includes has
Another great sense of food is the warm soft tortillas that carry delicious pieces of juicy beef fajita. At restaurants, the sight of the steam leaving the food, creates a mouth to water as well as a pleasant feeling of home. However, not every place is going to capture the appetizing taste of food. Say for example, school. I remember one time in elementary they were serving tamales. I was so excited to see a Hispanic dish, I know I had the biggest smile on my face. I continued to my class table and sat down. All of a sudden my friend sitting across from me, a friend that happens to be Asian, questioned, “You like that?” Bluntly, I responded “Yeah, why?” In which he responded, “Oh, I didn’t like it.” Tamales, might I add is special occasion meal, that is prepared in a dried corn husk. Masa de Maize or the dough would be spread against the dried corn husk. Then it would be filled with chicken, pork, or cheese. Then the components would be wrapped by the corn husk to be
The Meaning Of Food Around the holidays I have three things on my mind: family, presents and delicious food. Speaking of food I usually look forward to my mother's delicious tamales. Every year me and my brothers sit down to make tamales. My mother's exquisite tamales have so many flavors. She starts by making a red chili sauce and a green chili verde sauce to cook the meat in. Next me and my brothers spread out the masa which is a type of corn dough, which we spread on corn husks.
When first beginning this assignment, I thought of choosing Vietnamese food because I miss having Vietnamese food for most of my meals, which was a luxury when I lived at home with my parents. Also, I have not fully prepared a Vietnamese dish or meal myself, as cooking never appealed to me. However, as I thought more about it, I would just be returning to the comforts of what I had already known instead of challenging myself and expanding my experiences. Eventually, I decided to pursue learning more about the Hispanic food culture because I greatly enjoy Hispanic food, whether it is Americanized Hispanic foods such as burritos or enchiladas from restaurants like Taco Bell or La Paz, or traditional, authentic foods I have had at my Hispanic friends’ houses. I love exploring the infinite variety of ethnic dishes this world has to offer, but I do not pay much attention exactly to what I am eating, what is in it, and how to prepare it myself. This assignment gave me the opportunity to go out and adventure into Guerrero’s Market on 11th and G street. I brought David with me, a friend from Honduras who has exposed me to most of the authentic hispanic foods I have eaten. I decided to make ceviche, and the two ethnic ingredients not used in mainstream American cuisine I selected were avocados and tostadas.
When most people hear the word “Mexican”, a person instantly thinks of food. This is because Mexicans have been known through out America as a culture to have a variety of some of the best dishes. Hispanics males take pride in working, just as the females take pride in cooking. The women don’t do it just for the heck of it, they make a form of art and also competition. Every Mexican family has a person who competes with another, to see who can make the best dish. Mexicans have different dishes from soups to rice. The one soup you will here in the Mexican generation is pozole. This is a soup that consists of pork, hominy, and spicy herbs. This recipe has been in my family for a more then a decade, and now I share it with you. In
Although their tastes differ when it comes to types of chiles, the grandmother and the speaker share a love for the traditional Mexican-American garnish. They also respect each other, simply based on their actions. Here we have two individuals, from different generations, that bond over the age-old tradition of food and love.