The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-05
now TO MAKE TAMALEs.
a Recipe obtnined from n T~ru,tvor,hy source
In Old Mexico.
Prom the 81. Louts Globe. Democra.


Prom the So. Louis Globe. Democrat.
Los ANGELES, Nov. 22.-What the unrivallod
doughnut, such us our grandmothers used to
make, Is to good old Now England, the tRmRlo
pronounced tay.mah.leeD is to the grcat South
west. The douRhnut Is u soCiologic and his
toFioal factor In New England, and the tRmale
Is no less n similar factor in southern California.
And the loaf OF brown bread and savory dish Of
baked beans arc no more characteristic Of the
down East" Yankee than is the corn dodgcr
OF the Georgian and the tamalo Of The Spanish
American. Races Of people bctray their in
dividuality ns surely in what they ont as In
what they do and say and wear; and the history
Of the Southwest which docs not mention the
tamalc is no history at all-it is only the dry
bones Of history.
1t lie no easy task for an American who does
not speak the Spanish language to learn the
ss,thsr lengthy process Of making real; old.time
boil n water with one hail tsscuP Of lime. Let
very. fine. Take two full.grown chickens and
little salt; Jet boil TIL quite tender. removs
and lot cool, then cut in small pieces. Mix with
mctata) enough OF the water in which the chick.
twSs Err q lard; Season with a little salt and
After this take three dozen chiliS fred pep.
pers), remove seeds, roast In a moderate oven a
then grind on the metata several times with a
head Of garlic, then strain we'll. In a stewing
onion. cut fine, and about a. spoonful OF -four.
Let cook a little while, and then drop In the
cupful of olives, q cnpful OF raisins. q teaspoon.
enl OF - Su y Snii a a little ,s salt and pepper; and let
SG@o Soak s. a o IN e sTai Watch shs DRY sa eoPn r hnsks from %h iee
well soaked. shake them. trim the ends, and ap.
ply a thin layer of the corn dough to the half OF
each husk. Put u spoonful of the stew on n pre-.
pared husk and cover with a prepared husk.
Tie the ends with strings made from tho same
bucks. Place In a large pot Of boiling water and
This recipe is for chicken tamales," but any
other meat may be used IL desired.
The metata mentioned in the recipe is a piece
or stone OF rectangular shape. about "a inches
lowed upon the upper surface, and has three
legs TO support ", cut from tho same block, the
front leg being shorter than the two real. ones.
SO that the metata stands in an inclined posi-.
tion. The legs are always short, 30 that the
person grinding corn has 10 get upon his usual.
sometimes. in the Old days, the metatS stone
had no legs. but simply, rested upon the ground.
stone cut to a size for handling, and is used to
rub the corn upon the grinding surface.
ca mt'9 rock s' which " IS v @sd hard rdo and I is k aIied pt With xqi,
small interstices. which give 1t a surface suit
able 1 for F%rtndi ME h The rock cy must must be very hard I'd;
food. The best motatss cost i" from ss to sIs.
They are not made in southern California, but
Mulejo, a town in the northe n part OF Mexico.
Corn husks are used to wrap the tamales be-
the nutritious qualities Of the food. They cost
from &c. TO 25c. a pound, according to the sea-
but only the inside hasks and only White ones ussU'
noon one may ireaaentIy come % the humble
observer It Is ansishtiyy. There @' is sI a ragged
cypress hedge in front and a gate which has liost
m,Ss aS. g!en Ma,. ons The 1m,S old Srsy house: with its
giving over tho efforts to stand up at ali and
t eeptien ln' t = h ssAp stSos t that way way ' for rs SS;
decades, In the California sun aud rain,
s s1s several s1ie sia1 dark ie .ssin a0e dmfSn rish @SEs: I iittis
"muchichis" playing about, and two or three
n n %ls s'aD aessi, To os sne side sss Of t the house ~ e nnSer
erly looking. old woman bending over a metata
stone. She is making, tamales, preparatory TO
his work at noontime. She Is stout in form and
with a face which is the sure index to as kind a
t MSmdin the R %orld a an SSh S she h baa a th Srisst.sso oH
ored rabosa, or head shawl, over her head. and
Mexican home spot. but it may be the abiding
place, of more of the domestic virtues and real
happiness avs d 5hsn many yb q smart snsnis American fspicIa a home r.:
mode Of manufacture. But the tamale. like
other things. has been Americanized or civil.
here he saw In the tamale a chance to make
money-something the Yanke never misses
The Yankee man does everything on a large
scale. even to serving the Lord. II he does q
then introduces a little trlckery into the proc.
ess, simply because he can't resist the tempta-
ti9n. ,t The a Mexican always ry.Hns made h,a h bis Sta sHm1 Ae,t to
there are several different ways of making
tamales. The American or "Texas" tamale. as
1t is called. is no more like the real old Spanish
tamale than the disreputable. indigestible " rail-
road" doughnut Is like the honest doughnut
that grandmother used to make"