The Osceola times., 1886-03-27
1oOIhsOME TAMALES.
How the Mexicans Make an oda na'
Palatable Dish.

Palatable Dish.
Among the rather odd spectacles tha
never fail to attract the attention oi the
newcomers is sight that nay De
nightly witnessed on the streets of for'
Worth and in all the cities and larger
towns of Texas A little before sun
down small groups of Mexicans win
huge baskets swinging from their
shoulders may be seen to take mp places
On the corners of the principal streets
Here they plant themselves for the
night to carry on n trade, the llttlenesso Oh
which seems ridiculous ifnot quite con
tcmptible in the eyes Of an Anglo-Saxon'
Those big baskets contain taniales, an
article Of food that the new arrival from
the Mississippi country never 81"
or heard of. But he stops, rerchance,
TO take a look at the swarthy salesman
thinking. no doubt, that the son OF Mon
tezuma is a very odd-looking specimen
of man. and wondering what sort OF
wares he has for sale His curiosity
prompts him to ask, and the good-na-
tured "hombro,' seeing that his ques-
toner is stranger in the land, takes
out one of the shuck-1rapped articles,
and. smiling, hands it over. The
stranger cautiously unwraps his present,
the Mexican all the while assuring him
in mangled English that tits very good,
and. having finally unfolded the riiass OF
wrapping. proceeds to nibble at the IN
terror pretty much as shy perch at the
angler bait. II tastes pretty palatable,
however and the end of it is that he
invests nickel or dime to the great
delight of the humble Nender Bat nc
stops long enough during the devourlng
process to ask: How do you make EN-!
And Mexy grins and tries to explain the
modus operand, but somehow or other
his explanation fails TO clear up the sub
iect to any great extent. probably from
the rather confusing mixture OF Englsh
and Spanish words. But ne meant to
tell it about thus. Take some corn and
soak in water all night. Then take out
and grind until reduced to dough-llke
state Uhe Mexicans grind in what they
call matate) The next thing is to
prepare the chill. the seed of which Is
taken out and boiled for twenty-five
minutes, then the skin is taken of and
it is ground in with garlic, black pep
per, salt and some Mexican seeds.
Some meat usually lean beef, and not
the little hairless dogs. as has been
sanderously charged, is chopped up
very fine and little lard is put over II.
All is now ready save the shucks, the
whitest of which are selected and scald-
ed with hot water. The corn dough,
with the various ingredients before
mentioned, is then spread on the shuck
and the latter is rolled up. 1t is then
ready to 90 into pot of hot water,
whore it is steamed till done.
The Mexican sellers Nre odd citizens.
They appear to be very poor. yet dur
ing the course of night they will take
in goou many nickcls, and as their
tamales are made of very inexpensive
materials nearly all is clear profit. The
price varies with the locality. In Aus
tin two are sold for cent, but in Fort
Worth they are worth ten cents n dozen.
The Mexicans are models of patience,
and will stand on a street corner far
into the lone hours Of the night, never
going home a long As there is the
slightest chance of securing customer.
Even on cold and stormy nights they
stay on the street, crouched in door.
ways. till long past midnight.
San Antonio is the paradise Of the
tamale man. Here he has great
| plaza given u.p to his benefit. In this
open space several scores of them coll
lect and after night-fall the scene be-
comes animated as crowds of customers
assemble to their regular nocturnal
| feast
The habit of eating them once formed
soon becomes as confirmed as any habit
ever indulged in by man. What the
mcerschaum is to the German, opium to
/ the Celestial, macaroni to the Italian,
| the tamale is to the Texan who has once
learned to love it, Without il life is q
| barren waste, a howlingwilderncss-
| Fort Worth (TcJ.) Gaze c.