With Christmas fast approaching excitement for tamales colorados mounts. Tamales are good at any time of year, but the tamal negro is a personal favorite of mine and it seems I can only manage to get a hold of some in the month of December.

Black tamales get their name from their chocolate-based sauce and is commonly accompanied by raisins, nuts, and dried plums. It might seem a little strange at first, but the sweet taste is something that kind of just grows on you, kind of like the habichuelas con dulce served during Semana Santa.

Other tamales served in during the holiday and year-round include the tamal colorado, which is probably the most common and the smaller chuchito which is wrapped in corn husks. The pache is another type of tamal served up year round, although less commonly than the tamal colorado.

Red tamales (tamales colorados) are served with a plantain leaf which is not edible! Don’t be the biggest Gringo of the group and try gnawing on this thing; it is tough and inedible!

Another tip when chowing down on tamales: while it is completely acceptable to eat as many as you can, it is not proper to serve yourself two tamales at a time. Guatemalan culture dictates that you only eat one at a time. Try a black, try a red, just don’t try them at the same time! It is unlikely that anyone will say anything if you take more than one when the plate is passed, but they may laugh a little at the Gringo who took two tamales at once. When you’ve finished your first one, help yourselves to seconds… thirds… or even fourths!

Being a Gringo, I don’t have a recipe for the tamales negros, so if anyone can help me out with that, I would much appreciate it. (Not that I am going to attempt it… that would be disastrous, but so that our other readers who are a little more skilled in the kitchen can try their hand at it.)

I did find a recipe for red tamales (tamales colorados) on www.MayaParadise.com. Below is the recipe in English and in Spanish quoted directly from that web-site:

Recipe in English (Receta en Inglés):

RECADO: (the sauce)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds of tomatos
2 large pimiento chiles
3 dried chiles (include if you want it more spicy)
2 ounces of pepitoria (ground pumpkin seeds)
2 ounces de ajonjolí
1 small stick of cinnamon
1 ounce of lard
Achiote (Annatto)
Salt

Preparation:
Boil the tomatos with the pimiento chiles and dried chiles with a small amount of water. Liquify and colander while adding the achiote. Brown the ground pumpkin seeds, ajonjolí, and cinammon, and grind it dry in a blender. Mix the resulting powder with to cooked tomatos and colander. Boil for 20 minutes, adding the ounce of lard, pieces of meat and additional seasoning. This recado sauce needs to be rather thick and a bit salty since the tamales lose salt when they are cooked.

MASA: (tamale dough)

Ingredients:
1 pound of corn masa (the same as used to make Guatemalan tortillas)
6 ounces of rice
8 ounces of lard
Salt

Preparation:
Cook the rice, liquify and set aside. Break up the masa in a half-liter of water and liquify. In an appropriate pot, boil 4 cups of water, add the liquifies masa and stir constantly. When it thickens, add the liquified rice. Continue stirring, add salt bearing in mind that the tamales will lose salt during cooking. If it becomes extremely thick, add a little water. When the mixture is cooked and is smooth, remove from heat, add the lard and mix until it disappears and the mixture looks shiny.

HOJAS Y ADORNOS: (leaves for wrapping the tamales and decorations)

Ingredients:
1/2 bundle of plantain leaves (8 leaves should be plenty)
2 bundles of maxán (moján) leaves
1 bunch of cibaque
3 pimiento chiles (roasted)
4 ounces olives
4 ounces capers
4 ounces raisins
1-1/2 pounds of pork
1/2 pound of bacon, chopped in small pieces

Preparation:
Cut the maxán leaves at their thickest point, clean them and place in the sun to dry out. Cut the plantain leaves into squares about 25 cm per side, wash, and boil for 10 minutes. Chop the bacon and cut the meat into appropriate sized pieces and add to the boiling recado sauce – cook for 20 minutes. Roast the chiles, peel them, and then cut into thin strips. Place a plantain leave diagonally on top of a maxán. With a large spoon, dish out a portion of the masa in the center of the leaf and add a generous amount of the recado, making sure it includes a piece of meat. Add some bacon pieces, olives, and strips of pimiento chile. Wrap this up in the leaf and tie with the cibaque fiber (previously cut and saoked in water). Line a large stew pot with the leftover leaves, add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Load the pot with the tamales and cover with plastic. Steam slowly for about an hour and a half to ensure that the meat is cooked.

Receta en Español (Recipe in Spanish):

RECADO:

Ingredientes:
1 1/2 libra de tomates
2 chiles pimientos grandes
3 chiles secos (optativo si lo desea picante)
2 onzas de pepitoria
2 onzas de ajonjolí
1 raja pequeña de canela
1 onza de manteca
Achiote
Sal

Preparación:
Cocine los tomates con los chiles pimientos y los secos, con poca agua. Licúe y cuele agregando achiote. Dore la pepitoria, el ajonjolí y la canela, pulverícela en seco utilizando la licuadora. Revuelva el polvo resultante con los tomates que coció y coló. Hierva por 20 minutos poniendo la onza de manteca, los pedazos de carne y sazonando. Este recado debe quedar espeso y un poco salado, ya que al cocinar los tamales pierden sal.

MASA:

Ingredientes:
1 libra de masa de maíz
(16 bolitas de masa)
6 onzas de arroz
8 onzas de manteca
Sal

Preparación:
Cueza el arroz, licúelo y resérvelo aparte. Deshaga la masa en medio litro de agua y licúe. En una olla apropiada, hierva cuatro tazas de agua, agregue la masa que licuó y mueva constantemente. Cuando espese, agregue el arroz que coció y licuó. Siga batiendo, póngale suficiente sal, teniendo en mente que los tamales la pierden durante la cocción. Si está muy espesa agregue agua. Cuando hierva suficiente y esté consistente, saque del fuego, agregue la manteca y bata hasta que ésta desaparezca y la masa tenga brillo.

HOJAS Y ADORNOS:

Ingredientes:
1/2 maleta de hojas de plátano
2 maletas de hojas de maxán
1 manojo de cibaque
3 chiles pimientos para ser asados
4 onzas de aceitunas
4 onzas de alcaparras
4 onzas de pasas
1 1/2 libra de carne de marrano
1/2 libra de tocino en pedazos pequeños.

Preparación:
Corte las hojas de maxán por la parte más gruesa, límpielas y póngalas a secar al sol. Corte las hojas de plátano en cuadros de 25 centímetros por lado, limpie y cueza durante 10 minutos. Corte pedazos de tocino y carne de tamaño regular y póngalos a hervir junto con el recado durante 20 minutos. Ase los pimientos y pélelos, luego córtelos en tiras. Ponga una hoja de plátano encima de una maxán, en diagonal. Sirva encima una porción de masa y póngale recado generosamente. Agregue carne, tocino, aceitunas, y tiras de chile pimiento. Doble y amarre con el cibaque partido que puso en remojo previamente. En una olla amplia ponga el colchón de hojas sobrantes, con 3 tazas de agua a hervir. Coloque sus tamales. Tape con hojas de plástico. Una hora y media de cocción es el tiempo necesario para cocinar la carne.

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