Name: “Chambray” Tamales (Tamalitos de Cambray)
Yield: 12 tamales (12 servings as first course or light dinner entrée)
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste; Freshly ground black pepper; 12 guajillo chiles, tops and seeds removed; 10 whole black peppercorns, bruised; 1 small head of garlic; 2 pounds (about 4 cups) coarsely ground fresh masa, homemade or bought from a supplier, or reconstituted masa made by mixing 3½ cups masa harina with 2¼ cups chicken stock (preferably homemade) or water; ¾ pound pork butt, in one piece; 1 large ripe tomato; ¾ pound beef round, in one piece; 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled; 6 bard-cooked eggs, peeled (optional); 1 pound 3 ounces (about 2½ cups) lard (preferably home-rendered); 1 medium onion, chopped; ¼ cup small pitted green olives; ¼ cup dark raisins; 2 ripe plantains, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice; Banana leaves for wrapping, thawed if frozen

Preparation info

12 tamales (
12
servings as first course or light dinner entrée)

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Food and Life of Oaxaca

By Zarela Martínez

Published 1997

About

The origin of the name, according to the Diccionario de Mexicanísimos, is that at one time these delicate tamales were cooked inside small bags of fine chambray. Now they are wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves. This banana-leaf version is adapted from a recipe I learned from Yolanda Cacho in Juchitán.

If desired, cut the raisins in half and soak in a little warm sherry before adding to the filling. However, this is never done in Oaxaca.