Miahuatlán-Style Tamales

María Concepción Portillo de Carballido, the well-known Oaxacan cooking teacher, introduced me to these pumpkin-enriched tamales from the neighborhood of Miahuatlán in the Sierra Madre del Sur. I included an adapted version of the recipe in my first book, Food From My Heart, but it is so good that it bears repeating—especially since the anise-scented fresh hoja santa leaves are now becoming mo