Everything for tamales.. and baluts, too!

Boy howdy! I’ve been seeing how easy it is to procure tamale-making materials and hardware here in Kansas City. The tiendas and carnicerias in the barrio where I live have several models of tamale steamers for sale. Here’s the bucket version, which probably works well on a cajun Cooker.

Bucket type tamale steamer

Of course, there are several options for masa, from the Maseca & Masa Harina commercial brands and the stores sell five-pound plastic bags of fresh tamale masa.

prepared masa

And the hojas de maiz are readily available nearly everywhere. I was at the big Asian supermarket downtown a few days before Christmas and Latinas were buying scads of packaged frozen banana leaves “para tamales de Navidad”. Just down the aisle I found a display of baluts (a Filipino bar snack of unborn duck eggs) right next to the durians. Nummers.

durian

So fill up your steamers with tamales, folks!

In the steamer.

Buen provecho, y’all. Y un prospero año nuevo!

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