Done: Keeping culinary traditions

I love food, my friends love food and most people I know list food as their favorite thing along with sex and long walks on the beach . Food is also a very important part of culture; when you think about holidays and traditions you usually think about what your grandma used to bake or what your mother or father used to burn. 

Most religions celebrate their holly days with feasts. You don't know how bad I want to be invited to a Muslim home at the end of Ramadam, I can't wait to cry honey tears from all that baklava. In Australia, they celebrate Christmas with Legs of lamb and BBQ's, I know, here in Quebec, some people cook a turkey and in Costa Rica it is the time for the much awaited Tamales.

Ta-ma-les, yeah and no offense to Mexicans, but Central American tamales are a whole other thing. I like Tamales so much I made a dissertation in College about the origins of this fancy meal in a leaf, I like Tamales so much that I used to eat them from December all the way to February almost daily only to be sad when they were over. One of my favorite childhood memories is of eating a bean Tamal (vegetarian father at the time) at at La Sabana park on a pic-nic after playing between the trees with my mom, dad and sister - No Andres, you weren't born yet.

The thing with Tamales, is that its an elusive treat. I know I can find Tamales at the Colombian shop around my house, but those are commercial tamales, you don't compare KFC to your auntie's Sunday Chicken Roast. The solution would be to prepare your own. Yeah, that sounds right, but there is a reason why we only eat them once a year if at all. They are a lot of work.

When I say a lot of work I don't mean lots of work for someone like me who eats oats so I don't have to cook, I mean its hard work that my grandma gave up on it a while ago. However, this year I felt compelled to keeping culinary traditions, hence the tittle, and give it a try.

So, there we were, cleaning plantain leafs, cooking the meats, preparing the toppings, putting our hand in the deep bucket full of “masa” to mix the spices and give it that truly home-made flavor. The funniest thing is that mom and I streamed Costa Rican radio, laughed at every single song from the 80's, forced Nik and Andres into temporary slavery and had good fun. Tamales is the kind of meal you cannot prepare alone, you need family, you need friends to make it, that might be the reason why I love them so much. They are more than a cornmeal savory cake for me, they are memories of how much I like my family, the chosen one as much as my birth one. I hope you get to experience that feeling of gratitude these holidays.

Note: Special thank you to my sister Caro for making those bean tamales the next day while I was slaking off in New York, that is what family is for right? Loves ya.