Comments on: Colombian Tamales How-2 Guide

By: Nika

Nika — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:44:02 +0000

Definitely NOT pre-cooked… all raw! Pre cooked would come out dry and not as juicy – the raw meat releases delicious flavor and fats into the tamal.

By: Fabiola

Fabiola — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:37:41 +0000

Nika,
I would love to try your recipe. It sounds delicious. I’ve made Mexican tamale and the meat is precooked. Your recipe does not specify if the meat should be precooked. Help!!!

Hope to hear from you! Gracias!

By: Chiot's Run

Chiot's Run — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:15:10 +0000

I love tamales. I grew up in Colombia (missionary parents) and this was one of our favorite foods. We had a neighbor that made a huge batch every New Year’s and she always gave some to us. The ladies at the church would also get together every so often and make gigantic batches of them.

I’ll be posting your recipe on one of my sites in case people want to try it. No use in my writing it all out and taking photos if you’ve already done a great job! Thanks!

By: de Moncaleano

de Moncaleano — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:32:28 +0000

Hello.. I am hungry now… i am Cachaco and was thinking of cooking some this weekend. What is interesting is the differences from this recipe to my mom’s. We add another meat, beef, use green olives, and some other ingredients not listed. We also don’t use some of your listed ingredients.. none the less.. Colombian Tamales… nothing in the world like them…

By: Nika

Nika — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:07:24 +0000

My mom says that you can freeze them but do so after they are COOKED. When you want to eat them, do not thaw on counter, put into steamer to thaw.

By: Andres

Andres — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:00:05 +0000

Nika, I was wondering whether it is possible to freeze the tamales and how long may they take to cook from frozen?

Thank a lot

Andres

By: n

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:33:57 +0000

JS: Masa Harina (masa arepa etc) is what we use. There may be other types or brands used by others but I dont know anything about it to comment on it. There is a product in the stores here in the US that is more for the mexican kitchen and they may be referring to mexican tamales but I do not know if its the same as what we use (sorry!). The masa dough should not be so thick that its like playdoh and also not runny. Maybe somewhat like a really thick grits mixture (so that is comes off the spoon ok, doesnt run, but isnt dry/too thick)

If it gets down in the water it gets nasty! Keep it up and out of the water for sure.

Crops of all sorts can be different when grown in different locations. Corn is not one breed so its likely that the corn that will grow in Canada is wholly different than the corn that grows in Colombia so its not a surprise that they would be different! Made in Canada or Colombia may also refer just to where it is ground or perhaps even just where it was packaged. The corn itself may come from somewhere else entirely. Globalization has done a real number on our food system.

I hope your next tamal experience goes more smoothly!

By: JS

JS — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:48:53 +0000

Nika, help me out here if you can. You say to use masaarepa La Venezolana or Arepa Harina. My wife uses these for Empanadas but used a different prroduct for Tamales which says for Tamales on the side. She screwed up the Maza the seccond time. Way too hard! Does the Maza have to be in a thick oatmeal like consistency when it goes onto the banana leaf? The Tamales also have to be ABOVE the water in the steamer orr can sit in the wwater if TIED properly?

I do not want her to mess these up. She uses Goya Masaarepa for Empanadas which is the same as La Venezolana. The Goya product “made in Canada” is better than the same product “Made in Colombia” oddly enough she says for Empanadas. Same color bag and price…made in two different places.

By: JS

JS — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:33:31 +0000

The trick to this is the maza and the steaming part. Keeping the Tamales out of the water and getting the maza not to soft and not to hard.

By: Maria

Maria — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:17:08 +0000

GRAT RECIPE!!!
Tamales are such a great dish in Christmas time.
Thanks for very detailed translation.

Colombian Cusine is specific to Colombia. SO if you are looking for non Colombian recipes, this will not do.