So I’ve been mulling over the matter of tamales this week. A friend recently asked me for my favorite tamale recipe and I had to confess that my tamales always come out kind of badly. I do not have an abuela who used to make them, and actually I think I rarely if ever ate them amid the big range of Tex-Mex, Southwestern and Mexican food I ate growing up in California and in all the years since.
I like tamales a lot. I’d like to get good at them. But even if I were good at mixing the dough from masa harina and shaping them, they’re a pretty big hassle. I feel like they’re a party food or for a holiday. I have been reading up on them—Jorge Gaviria’s Masa and a few other new cookbooks in this culinary domain. I even have a source of fresh masa, potentially, from foodie-famous South Philly Barbacoa. But I just don’t think I have the energy to sweat over them, especially since the enthusiasm level for tamales per se is pretty low from my fellow eaters.
What I am making today for sure is some roasted pork shoulder and a mole sauce. What will happen to that, I’m not sure—I might just put it all over rice, over rice and beans, or in flour tortillas for enchiladas.
Mole is not a thing I make from a recipe at this point in my life. I consulted a few of my new books and I can only say that whatever I make from them it’s not going to be their version of mole. Mole is for me like chili: I’m going to vary it every single time depending on what I’ve got and maybe how heavy or dark I want to be.
The invariable thing is that it starts with finely chopped onion and garlic softened in the pot. Today I’m using the leftover bacon grease from this morning’s breakfast to fry that in. That’s the thing: mole is about using what you have and what needs to be eaten. The second step is always a vegetable sofrito—peppers for sure (I have a fresh poblano in the garden that’s calling out to be used), maybe carrots or other vegetables that you might use in a mirepoix, if they need using up. On that score I think it’s just going to be peppers today, but I’ll double-check with a rummage in the crisper drawer in a bit. I do have two ears of corn that need using, which might work beautifully.
Then it’s tomatoes, canned or fresh or both, chopped fine in the food processor. If I’m using chipotles in adobo, I’ll probably put the adobo in with the tomatoes. Chicken broth or pork broth in on top of that, maybe a can of beer as well. Then finally a paste of soaked dried chiles, old bread, dried fruit, nuts and maybe fresh fruit. Sesame seeds too. Today I’m going to try using two peaches and pumpkin seeds, though I’d often use peanuts if I had them. I’ll usually add salt, cumin, coriander, cinnamon and pepper at this point too. I sometimes experiment with allspice or other aromatics, probably not this time. If it needs a bit more heat after cooking for a while, I have my ways.
I think I will finish the sauce late today with some cilantro and lime zest, or maybe that just goes on top of the finished dish, whatever it might be. It’s never quite the same sauce, but I don’t feel I’ve made a bad one for years, and it ages well over a week or freezes well.
I would eat this like a shot. Definitely.
You are definitely making me hungry. And my crisper drawers are empty of veggies. I’ll hold off until I’ve bought a little too much. And please don’t tell anyone but I’m waiting on everyone else’s tomato crop to overflow.😉